Summary:\u00a0 Joe revisits his mama’s Christmas 1844 journal entries.
\nWritten for Day 17 of the Advent Calendar
\nRating:\u00a0 G\u00a0 Words: 859<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Bonanza <\/p>\n “Snow Angels”<\/strong><\/p>\n Part 2<\/strong><\/p>\n (About 30 or so years later)<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n It was sunrise and about two weeks before Christmas at Joe and Karie\u2019s cabin.\u00a0\u00a0They and their two-year-old daughter Marie were already up and about.\u00a0\u00a0Karie cooked breakfast as Marie toddled around with a doll clutched in her arms.\u00a0\u00a0Joe looked out the front window and saw a thick blanket of snow covered the ground.\u00a0\u00a0He scooped up Marie and carried her over to the window.\u00a0\u00a0The little girl giggled.<\/p>\n \u201cLook!\u00a0\u00a0Snow!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0He exclaimed.<\/p>\n \u201cSnow,\u201d she softly repeated with big admiring green eyes.<\/p>\n He ruffled her honey-blonde curls as he remembered him and his brothers playing in the snow when they were children.\u00a0\u00a0They made snowmen, snow angels and had snowball fights.\u00a0\u00a0Joe looked down at Marie and thought about playing with her in the snow.\u00a0\u00a0Well she was probably a little too young to do snowball fights and make snowmen.\u00a0\u00a0Maybe next Christmas.\u00a0\u00a0Not this one.\u00a0\u00a0Still she could make snow angels, and he could show her how.<\/p>\n \u201cHow would you like to go out there and make snow angels?\u201d<\/p>\n She nodded her head.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOkay.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s bundle up.\u201d<\/p>\n Karie replied, \u201cCan you wait until after breakfast?\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s almost ready.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh good!\u00a0\u00a0Breakfast to warm us up before we go out into the snow.\u201d<\/p>\n They soon sat down to a breakfast of eggs, pancakes and sausage links.\u00a0\u00a0All through the meal Joe shared stories of him and his brothers playing in the snow when they were children.\u00a0\u00a0Marie\u2019s face looked enraptured as he spoke.<\/p>\n He looked over at the small Christmas tree beside the fireplace.\u00a0\u00a0It was covered with garlands and ornaments from Joe and Karie\u2019s families.\u00a0\u00a0He noticed among the ornaments the two angels that were Mama\u2019s.\u00a0\u00a0Pa told him that she had bought them when he was a baby.<\/p>\n After breakfast they all bundled up and gathered outside on the porch.\u00a0\u00a0Karie held Marie in her arms.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, watch,\u201d Joe told Marie.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m going to show you how to make a snow angel.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n He laid down in the soft powdery snow and flailed his arms and legs about.<\/p>\n Marie giggled.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cPapa funny!\u201d<\/p>\n Oh she thought he was funny did she?\u00a0\u00a0He had lots of stories he could tell her about him and his brothers.<\/p>\n Joe stood up and stepped back onto the porch.<\/p>\n \u201cWould you like to try it?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0He asked Marie.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0She said.<\/p>\n He took her from Karie and laid her down in the snow.\u00a0\u00a0She immediately started flailing her arms and legs about as she giggled.\u00a0\u00a0Then he picked her back up.\u00a0\u00a0Joe gazed at the imprints they had made in the snow.\u00a0\u00a0A big angel and a little angel.\u00a0\u00a0Angels came in different sizes didn\u2019t they?\u00a0\u00a0He remembered Mama\u2019s journal which Pa had given him several Christmases ago.\u00a0\u00a0There was a Christmas entry where she wrote about teaching Joe how to make a snow angel.\u00a0\u00a0He may have been the same age that Marie was now.<\/p>\n \u201cSee the snow angels that we made?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah!\u201d<\/p>\n Next they all went on inside to have hot cocoa to warm them up.\u00a0\u00a0Joe pulled Mama\u2019s journal out of the bookcase and found her entries from December 1844.\u00a0\u00a0As they sat at the table he read aloud what Mama had written.\u00a0\u00a0Somehow it felt like she was right there with them.\u00a0\u00a0He had no memories of that Christmas, and he so wished he did.\u00a0\u00a0Still he did have a vague memory of him, Mama and his brothers making snowmen and having snowball fights when he was a little older.<\/p>\n Karie asked, \u201cI wonder if your brothers remember that Christmas?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, they probably do,\u201d Joe replied.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cBesides I can\u2019t imagine Adam not remembering the first rifle that he got for Christmas.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe probably does remember.\u00a0\u00a0I wonder what happened to your mama\u2019s rifle?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sure Pa has it stored somewhere upstairs at the house.\u00a0\u00a0In fact, I think I\u2019ll ask him about it when we all get together for Christmas dinner over there.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe glanced over the yellowed pages that Mama had written so long ago.\u00a0\u00a0He felt warmth inside as he remembered her.\u00a0\u00a0Snow angels.\u00a0\u00a0He always enjoyed making them when he was a child.\u00a0\u00a0In fact he enjoyed making one a while ago and seeing his little girl do the same.<\/p>\n \u201cI think after dinner I\u2019ll get all of the children together and have them make snow angels.\u201d<\/p>\n Karie laughed.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cI suppose you\u2019ll be joining them?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, and my brothers will probably join us.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh really?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSure.\u201d<\/p>\n A moment of silence followed while Joe silently reread the last few lines of Mama\u2019s Christmas Day entry.\u00a0\u00a0Pa and his brothers told him many times through the years about her love of Christmas.<\/p>\n \u201cI have a request,\u201d Karie said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI was just thinking about your pa reading the Christmas story to the family every Christmas night.\u00a0\u00a0Do you mind doing that for our little family?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh I would love to.\u00a0\u00a0I think it\u2019s a great idea to pass on family traditions to the next generation.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI do too.\u201d<\/p>\n Merry Christmas, Mama.\u00a0\u00a0Merry Christmas.<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Character: Joe<\/p>\n Activity: Making snow angels<\/p>\n Link to Day 13 for those who skipped over days to read to Part II of Snow Angels, here is a link to Day 14 of the Bonanza Brand 2021 Advent Calendar:\u00a0 Snowball Fight! by rh2006fan<\/a><\/p>\n Link to Day 18 of the Bonanza Brand 2021 Advent Calendar:\u00a0 Family Traditions by Sibylle<\/a><\/p>\n
\n~*~*~ Advent Calendar ~*~*~
\n* Day 17*<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n