Remembering a Snowball

Remembering the old days, I choose to focus on good memories, like the day my Aunt Virginia visited us on a snowy afternoon during the holiday season. We were a blended family, two parents and six children, in all. Aunt Virginia was the daughter of my maternal grandmother’s sister, and so she was, and is, a relative. She was not a sibling of either of my parents, but they granted her the honorary title of aunt. To this day, I call her Aunt Virginia.

Back to the snowy day she visited us so many years ago. When Aunt Virginia arrived, a pristine, lush, blanket of heavy, white snow was still falling. My mother was preparing a celebration blender of a green-colored, minty-flavored cocktail, which she intended to share with her cousin Virginia. The two of them were soon in high spirits. We children were always full of fun and mischief. We all went outside to participate in a snowball fight together, Aunt Virginia and our mother included. Yes, really.

During this snowball fight, it was understood that we children were permitted to aim our snowballs at adults. It was a spectacle, indeed. I was the oldest child. I was a teenager, in fact. I threw the largest, hardest ball of snow I could manage right into Aunt Virginia’s face, and then I ran like a deer from a predator. Snowballs were flying past me and hitting me in the back of the head. I was sure they were all launched by my honorary aunt. I streaked past the crowd into the house. I plodded, snow covered, into the sunken dining area and opened the French glass doors. Standing in the back of the room, I dared Aunt Virginia to hurl a snowball into the dining area. I was sure she wouldn’t think of it.

She did it! She practically filled the dining area with snowballs! I have never laughed so hard in my life. All of us were laughing, my mother, included, thanks to those green, minty cocktails, I bet. We cleaned up the mess and went on to enjoy the rest of the day.

P.S. I’m not sure about this, but it’s entirely possible that Aunt Virginia rubbed my face in the snow before she left.