Prayers For Melissa

Priscilla and I woke up that morning to a bright, white spectacle outside our bedroom window. We looked out at the flurry of January snow that had fallen overnight that was practically BEGGING us to play in it. Adventure awaited us! We gathered up all the necessities – we doubled up on our pants, found our hats and scarves, searched high and low for two pairs of matching gloves, put on our snowsuits, and slipped our boots on over our fuzzy socks. And we were off!

But what was there to do? Snowball fights weren’t fun with just two people. Making snow angels was FAR too elementary an activity for a six and nine-year-old. No, today, we were going to attempt something we’d never yet done before – build a snowman! The problem was, neither of us knew where to start. We tried several tactics, each one failing rather miserably. But finally, after a few trial runs, we had three – very lopsided and lumpy looking – spheres of snow stacked on top of one another.

But now for the final touches – decorating! We rushed inside, our faces flushed and our fingers already numb from the cold. But we couldn’t stop now – our snowman needed some character! We scrounged up all the items we needed to make our creation come to life. Alongside the winter hat and scarf and sticks for arms that we found, we had to use some substitutes as well, like raisins for buttons. And our sisters said it was pointless to waste a good carrot, sooo we just used a stick for that, too. We decided not to add a replacement cigar, though. Smoking, after all, is quite bad for people, even and maybe especially snow people, who are very prone to melting when in close proximity to something so hot.

We were finally finished with our masterpiece! We made our back inside the house where Grace and Tabitha were waiting to greet us with some hot chocolate. All in all, it was a perfect winter morning. The only thing that would have made it better was if Momma could have joined us. I knocked on her door excitedly and called out, “Momma, Momma! Come look at the snowman Priscilla and I just made!” But Momma had had a rough morning and couldn’t bring herself to get out of bed that day. And unfortunately, Priscilla and I seemed to have both caught colds. Because of this, our older sisters advised us to keep a safe distance away from Momma until our coughs had gone away, saying they didn’t want any extra strain on her physical health. I don’t think I understood why at the time. I was downcast for what seemed like the rest of the day, staring outside at Mr. Snowman, wishing Momma could have been there to see the joy on our faces as we built and created to our heart’s content. I’m sure Momma wished the same.

-Sara Joy

~ by Sara Espiritu on December 15, 2019.

Posted in Words from Sara