Snow-Chasing Memories

The first snow and memories of childhood friendship

With all the churning and twisting of exhaustion and stress, the memory of my childhood best friend comes to mind. I haven’t been quite sure why, but maybe it’s because it’s been three months since I’ve been home. Maybe it’s because it’s been longer since he headed off to the military. I don’t know, really, maybe I’m also really dang sleepy. My memories simply shimmer into my mind now and then. I get reminded of the maybe 12 years our families have known each other.  

Our families met through the older siblings. My older sister and his older brother. Little connections made, the older siblings kept seeing each other, and then we learned there was a younger sibling around my age. Since then, we’ve all watched each other grow up. The rises and falls, my friend’s bad taste in girlfriends, I was right about most of the time. I would want to warn and warn, but as a child, my voice was always shy and quiet. And of course, the bias of childhood crushes. But we were all much like siblings, a big double family with our own separate issues. Sticking together when their dad and mom went on trips, many times spent with sleepovers and all the chaos that came with it. I remember when he had to sleep in my tiny room on a cot. I had magenta Christmas lights because I was afraid of the dark. We talked about Minecraft until we decided it was time to fall asleep.  

Though, as the first snow started to fall, I particularly remember one of our wintertime pastimes as kids. I’m sure it was very dangerous, but it was fun. Their family has this massive field behind their house. I remember as a child, gazing down there with awe as we would pass it in a car. The four of us kids would pile in a toboggan (a sort of elongated sled) that would be hooked up to a four-wheeler, and one of the dads (mainly theirs) would start the four-wheeler, and we’d all hang on tight. The snow would whip past our faces, and we’d go laps around the area; we’d do this at least once a year for a number of years. 

But as the years drifted by, things started to slip apart. We’d all carpool for track and cross country, then we all started graduating and were released into a world that often demands the separation of paths. That declares things are no longer simple; one might fall to drugs, parties, loss, or hopeless battles. But the thing that matters is picking oneself up, which we watch each other do, just like how we watched each other grow up. Life leaves people to college, work workforce, military, the three main routes society demands from alleged adults. Even happens to a ‘second family’.   

But, once in a while, there’s a completely random message sent to me. Frankly, it immediately brightens my day. Brief messages back and forth, then suddenly, for a little while, it’s like we’re kids again. Having known someone for so long can have that effect, and that’s amazing how much a bond like that can impact one’s life. I still get all worried about him, just like when we were kids. I know I don’t have to anymore, but I guess it’s a habit that’s lasted all this time. 

• friendship
• memories
• nostalgia
• sledding
• winter