Of all the various collectibles related to the Christmas season – ornaments, Santas, creches, angels – my favorite has always been snow people. Granted they are usually called snowmen, but why should they be? Do we even know what gender snow people are in the first place?
Political correctness aside, I love the idea that snow people represent something temporary and transient. The real ones are a labor of love that stick around for a while and then vanish while the memory remains.
My indoor collection is more durable, but just as transient as they don’t stick around beyond the middle of January. In fact, this year I considered not even displaying what remains of my former collection. Only yesterday did I bring out my favorites: the snow person in boots who carries a sign that says, “Some of my best friends are flakes,” the glass snow couple on ice skates, and the wooden snow person with a couple birds on its stick-like arms. There’s also the pillow with the charcoal eyes, nose, and buttons and the saying, “I’ll be back again someday.”
And then there’s my beloved aunt’s runner that has graced our dining table since she sent it to me a couple decades ago. It features the cutest snow person as well as other hand-quilted souvenirs of Christmas. She passed away on June 3, so this is the first year without her in my life. I cannot display this snow person this year; but it’s here in my memory.
It will never be transient.
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