The Best Snowball I Ever Threw

(No disrespect to my current husband, but this is a picture of me and my dad at my first wedding. It's the only one I could find of us together. My mom has tons of photos at her house I really need to remember to go through sometime. So bare with me, one of these days, I'll get new photos, err, old photos.)

The current weather conditions remind me of my childhood when school would shut down for the day. Typically dad would have a day off too since he worked outside when I was in junior high. We would traipse up to my grandparents house together so he could have a cup of coffee with them. I loved those days. However, usually on the way there or the way back he would hit me with a snowball. Without a doubt, near the facial area too. I hated that. No matter what, I could never, ever hit him like he hit me. Even though he drove me crazy during softball season to play catch, I never could get my aim down throwing snowballs. EVER!

That is until this particular day. The snow gods blessed me as they never will again. My grandparents house was just up the hill from ours. Not a big hill, not a small hill. In the snow, deep snow, it felt like a big hill. If I remember correctly, dad left a tad earlier than I did. He was almost to the bottom of the hill as I just approached the top of the hill to walk home. Knowing I'd never get him, I created my only amazing, magical snowball.

Dad was walking his usual stride in the snow...hands in pockets, cap covered head down, walking fast. I pitched that snowball watching it make the perfect arch in the air. To my amazement it travelled the length of that hill. I continued walking and watching. My beautiful, magical snowball landed between the back of my dad's neck and the collar of his coat. It was cold. I wigged out because I knew what was coming. I lost control and couldn't stop laughing. When I laugh, I lose contact with anyone and anything. I hit the ground. A very short time later my dad was burying my head in the snow. Saying the whole time, "I'll getcha, I'll getcha!!!" His getcha's were never fair. How many times did I have to be gotten before I could ever get him back, then he'd quickly return the gotcha. I could never keep up.

Remembering that perfectly pitched snowball that day always warms my heart when I see the falling snow.