Swirling, swaying, spinning in time to the blaring music

I close my eyes

When they open, I’m a little girl

“Dad, I don’t dance. I don’t know how to”

He extends his hand to my mom, she takes it

They playfully dance to an upbeat, imaginary song

Laughter and smiles make the room glow

“Come on, now you try” encouraging me with a smile

I stand on his feet, giggling as he dances me around the room

Eyes closed, I give him a huge hug

    “Will you please make snowflakes with me?”

Paper and two pairs of scissors are set on the table

Mom makes crisp folds to the paper then she begins to cut

Watching in amazement as a simple paper becomes a beautiful snowflake

She smiles at me as I try to cut mine just like hers

They hang from the ceiling along with the others

Snowflakes are cold but to me they bring back warm feelings

When I close my eyes I can still imagine them

    “Fox and hound! Can we please play fox and hound?”

Snowsuits come out of the closet, we put them on

My grandma and I drag our feet in the cold, brilliant snow

Once all of the trails connect, we start playing

I’m the fox, she’s the hound

Reminding myself to stay on the trails, I run as she chases me

When the snow is full of footprints and the cold nips a little too hard

Inside we go

My grandpa makes hot cocoa while we get rid of the wet clothes

We watch a movie, I drift off to sleep in my grandma’s arms

   

    “We’re going today?” I ask with excitement

My grandpa nods his head as he packs the equipment

“Bring home dinner!” my grandma calls with a laugh

I swing my legs as we drive to the fishing spot

After what feels like an  eternity, we arrive

Water shimmers blue as a sapphire

Not a cloud to be seen in the forget me not blue sky

With bait on my hook, I cast

Bluegill after bluegill, I can’t help but feel pride

A huge grin on his face, my grandpa is proud too

We head home when the sun begins to set

Exhausted from the excitement, I collapse on the couch closing my eyes

    Once more, my eyes open

This time, I’m not so little

I smile at my dad as we dance

We move in time to the waltz

No one knows how lost in thought we are

A bittersweet recall of how things used to be

Nothing more than happy memories