The First Snow

Typically I hate the snow... and all things cold. I am a summer girl. I like the beach, and the sunshine, and when it's so hot it's hard to breath. Ok that may be a bit of an exaggeration. But you get my point.

When it is cold, I like tea and blankets and a fire place. We had a fire place in the house that I grew up in. I remember my dad cutting wood and stacking it nice and neat along the fence line of our driveway. I remember the way the fire would crackle and pop at night; I would sit next to the wood stove and just listen. My grandpa (my dad's dad) worked in a saw mill and that is where he was when he passed away. I was five when he passed away. I remember as a kid looking at the trees that were pressed into the metal of the wood stove door and thinking of my grandpa.

Even though I hate the snow most of time, I do like the first snow. It brings up memories of when I was a kid with my dad and the wood stove, with my mom and her wonderful Christmas decorations, with my sisters playing and romping through the snow. Today is no different.

But now I get new enjoyment out of it. While Ava was getting ready for school this morning, she spotted the snow. "Mom! You have to get down here right now! I can't wait!" I dropped my curling iron and headed down the stairs. "Mom! Snow is falling from the sky onto the ground!" She was so excited! Ryan couldn't wait to get dressed and head out into the cold stuff.

When Jayson and I got married, we started new traditions with the family that we had created together. We took a little of his and a little of mine, and created something new. The illustration that the agency used about adoption being similar to two people getting married and starting new traditions really stuck with me. I guess because traditions are important to me. We do a study of how families celebrate the holidays each year with my class and I love hearing the things that my students do. Now that we are waiting to adopt, I wonder if our newest little love will come from a family that does similar traditions to the ones I hear my students talk about. I imagine how we will take a little of them and a little of us and create something new.

Last year at this time, we were just starting our home study process. Driving in the snow reminded me of all of the trips to the agency we took in the snow and the anxious excited feelings I always felt on the way.

I guess you could say that the first snow makes me feel nostalgic. It makes me think of the times that have passed and look forward to the times that are to come and the new people who will be in our lives to love and be loved by.