You would think living in the Pacific Northwest, having to succumb to a harsh cold winter snow would be a norm. Well it’s not, and unfortunately snow is something of a blessing and more often than not, typically short lived when it does appear. Winter break of 2015 was no exception, I hadn’t done anything all break and my parents wanted to go out and do something before everybody was forced to go back to work and school. We had planned to go out sledding with some family friends up on Larch Mountain but nonetheless it hadn’t snowed for the past few weeks so the idea of going sledding was beginning to diminish.
Leading up to the very last day of break Thad, had the mindset that my family and I weren’t going to be spending the day out in the joyous snow and drink hot cocoa while sitting by the toasty fire. Luckily I had spoken too soon. First thing in the morning, I wake up to the sound of my mother shouting “Go look out your bedroom window kids! “, instantly thinking ‘no school today! and to my pleasant surprise the entire neighborhood was covered in a smooth blanket of porcelain snow.
It was all I could do to get an abundance of my snow gear on and rush outside. As I stepped outdoors, the cold winter wind had nipped at my nose and small winter flakes started to fall into my disheveled hair. I marched on out disturbing the smooth layer of snow, and headed to the area where everyone had gathered around. Soon I discovered they built a small hill for the children to sled on and spotted my dad standing by a fire, built to keep everyone warm. My eyes glazed over at the beautiful scenery, I was in complete awe.
Standing shoulder to shoulder with my dad, I watched my youngest brother glide along the snow on an innertube it had struck an old memory within me. “Dad, i’m not too sure about this? ” my tiny inquisitive self pondered. “We’ll be fine Em, don’t worry” my dad encouraged. As I sat on my dad’s lap I took a long breath and stared down the long and slick hill which appeared to go on forever, assuming it only lead to my ultimate doom. He sent us off and we went flying, My beanie was caught in the wind and was sent flying, my hair went wild flowing through the wind.
We both had the biggest smiles on our faces as I shrieked along the whole way down. When we reached the end, My hands were stiff from gripping the handles on the inner tube so tightly and I just sat there, amazed. That ride down the hill was quite possibly the most exhilarating activity I had ever experienced and I realized I hadn’t had anything to worry about, the fear | originally felt was soon replaced with adrenaline. “See, I told you there was nothing to worry about! My dad exclaimed.
Okay you were totally right, we have to go down that again, oh please can we go down the hill again dad! ” after asking him to go down again, and again, and again, he finally obliged and took us down one last time. Soon after that, it began to grow dark outside and we reluctantly had to return home. As we headed back, I began to feel drowsy due to pure exhaustion and before I fell asleep | looked up to see my dad smiling at me and my two younger brothers in the rearview mirror, all falling asleep next to each other in the backseat of the car, shoulder to shoulder.
Thinking back to those days and that snow trip, it reminded me how close my family and I have remained over the years. Now, I can’t exactly fit on one individual sled with my dad but standing there next to him just reminded me how much of a bond we have shared over the years and how much he still loves and protects me. Our surroundings and circumstances may have altered but the memories we share will last forever. For the entire rest of the day my family and I spent it outside in the beautiful snow relishing on the rare occasion.
I continuously sipped on my cup of hot chocolate to prevent me from being cold, I smiled to myself just thinking how great a day this was, I got to spend precious time with my family and technically have an extra day of winter break. When the sun began to set and our natural light was disappearing, I set off to head home all while thinking how coincidental it was to miraculously earn a snow day after believing I would go another year without one to enjoy.