A Unexpected Blessing

Since my arrival in Alabama, I have been on a mission. My mission was to provide my children with the experience of snow. I was determined to drive as far as necessary until I found snow. Who knew I wouldn't even need a vehicle; I could walk right out my front door and find plenty of the white stuff. This year we were blessed to wake up to a white Christmas; my first white Christmas in over twenty years. I thought that was as good as it gets, but I was wrong again. This week we received another unexpected blessing... more snow.

This is not just any snow but real snow. No light dusting here. No, this snow is real, honest-to-goodness authentic snow... all eight inches of it, and all of it is still on the ground. This morning the whole family frolicked in and out of the snow. We found a hill and, with many others, slide down it for hours. We threw snowballs, built snowmen and walked around in amazement, enjoying this extra special blessing. I was reminded of my own childhood once again.

Having grown up in the western part of Massachusetts, I spent every winter sliding, skiing and playing in the cold New England winter. After going twenty years without any snow, I had forgotten how much fun it could be and how much fun I had as a child in it. As a child, I slid down Monroe Hill Road and went on river walks with my friends. I used to jump off my second story porch with no fear. I would ski in John Passardi's field and go snowmobiling on that same field. I remember after each big storm Kenny would come around with the bucket loader and clean our driveways out... leaving a nice big pile of snow with which to build forts and tunnels. I remember the sight of big snow flakes falling in a night time sky against the street light out my kitchen window. I remember counting the number of times the plow went up and down the road at night to determine if we had school in the morning. If the number was greater than six there would be no school in the morning. I was right more than I was wrong on that one. As I watched my kids slide this morning, all those memories and more came flying back into to my mind.

When your childhood is full of vivid memories like mine I think it is safe to say it was a pretty good one, and mine was. It now serves as motivation for me to give my children their own memories now with the hope that each will be worthy of their recall later. Memories that will be full of color and vivid like mine still are. Memories of eight inches of snow and children and adults sliding in snow that seems more white than I remember. Snow that was not just a dusting but deep, thick, bright white Alabama snow, eight inches deep. As I went outside for a second time, I thought about today and determined that it was a day chuck full those ingredients that produce good solid memories. Hope your day was just as blessed!