The Snow Storm

A blanket of snow provides a special kind of warmth.

I can remember all of it since the moment I have started having memories.

My past is so clear to me.

I couldn't forget anything even if I tried.

Sometimes I hate that I am this way, born with a mind that burns all memories indelibly into my brain.

They pile up one after another, these memories, as vivid as the day they were made.

However, there is one event...one fleeting moment in time that, try as I may, I just cannot recall.

I have struggled so often to bring it back to my consciousness, but the closer I feel to it, the farther it slips away.

A short dialogue with my mother...at a small park on a snowy day...I can remember the beginning and then it is gone.

“Mama, what’s that?”

“Why, it’s snow.”

Then the image fades into static white.

Like I am inside a cloud.

Like the whole world is a snow storm.

"It's cold. Cold and tingly. What is it?"

"It's called Snow."

"Snow?"

"That's right, snow. A present from the heavens."

"You mean from God?"

"Yes dear, every winter he covers the trees with it. When winter arrives, the trees and grass grow brown and lonely. Well, God sends down snow to cover that up. He makes the entire world glow, like a bed of silver roses. When life gets difficult, don't let it hurt you. Just hide for a little while...until they thaw...in a world of beauty and light."

"Mama, why are you crying?"

"Listen to me child, you need to be strong to make it in this life. You can't be a weakling like me, you have to be...oh dear, your hands are so cold. Give them to me, I'll warm them up."

There it is. That forgotten memory. My mother she took my hands in hers... and they had a warmth of their own.

That's all.

I wonder why I couldn't remember.

Such deep warmth.

Such an inner warmth.

Her warm caring hands.

Yes, I now remember how they felt on that snowy silvery morning.

So soothing. So reassuring.