Memory-Making in Progress

Where is the heart that does not keep
Within its inmost core
Some fond remembrance hidden deep
Of days that are no more?
--Ellen Clementine Howarth

I love that quote.
I loved it the moment I read it for the first time.
It brings about warm memories from my childhood--especially this past week when I watched my own children playing in the snow.

I stood at the back window, watching them sled down our snowy hill, thinking of the snowy days of my youth.

I lived in an area that received lots of snow every winter. It wasn't surprising at all to wake up in the morning and see my school's name listed as "Closed for the Day." Even better was the mid-morning announcement that would come over the loudspeaker telling us that the buses would soon be there to pick us up and take us home because of "accumulating snow." Those were the days before the "Day Count" became so all-important.

I also remember--very fondly--the homemade ice skating rink that my dad would make for us in the winter. He would lay a big piece of plastic on the ground and then surround it with straw bales. Then, he would fill it with water and wait for it to freeze. It wasn't the smoothest rink--and we didn't have real ice skates, but I felt like Dorothy Hamill in all her glory when I skated on that rink!


And yes, I did sport a very fashionable Dorothy Hamill haircut in the first grade.

And no, I am not posting pictures of it.

Games of "Fox and Goose," setting up the outline of a playhouse in the snow, snowmen and snow forts, ice...I mean snowball fights with my brother, sledding down the barn hill, the icy condensation that gathered on the scarf that was wrapped around my mouth, that strange sensation of being freezing cold and sweaty and red-cheeked all at the same time.

Seeing my kids enjoying the snow and knowing that they were in the process of creating some sweet childhood memories that they too would carry with them forever was what kept me dressing a 3-year old, wiping wet floors, washing towels, drying clothes, and obeying the cries of "Watch this!"--only to do it all over again a couple of hours later.

And, of course, there's the knowledge that it's these same memories that will one day create a patient calmness in my kids when they have their own little ones creating puddles and laundry at the front door.

So...before the snow melts this weekend with the predicted 50 degree weather, here are just a handful of memories from The Big Snow of 2009...

Here's William, flashing me one of his warm-hearted smiles--even though it's below freezing outside.



And here's my extreme sports girl, Carrie, climbing back up the hill for the hundredth time.

It's amazing how many times you'll climb a hill just to go down it ten times faster than it took to climb it.



Here are two of my sweethearts...one watching the other get the knack of sledding all by himself for the first time.



Ahhh. The extremeness of the sport caught up with the girl. Or was it the hill-climbing?



Maybe next year, Matty.
Or the next.



For now, I'll keep you safe and warm inside with me...while I create a new set of winter memories...the best kind of all.

Mom Memories.