Every time it snows...

Here's a picture of my dad, taken a couple years ago. He really loved this picture, and so do I. My dad passed away not quite a year ago. I'll always think of him, especially when it snows hard, as it has many times this winter. Last year on March 7th, I received a very special gift. I didn't know it at the time, but I will always cherish the memory of that day. It was the day of the last big storm in the Akron area. I had taken dad to a doctor's appointment on the west side, then mom, dad and I stopped for lunch before going home. Dad wasn't feeling well enough to eat, but he managed to sip some soup. While we were in the restaurant, the snow kept piling up. We headed down Market Street and by the time we were downtown Akron, cars were slip- sliding all over the road. We got onto the "Y" bridge, and right in the middle of it we sat still for two solid hours as cars could not move anywhere. Dad was in the front seat next to me, and so we just spent the time having conversation. He mostly was reminiscing about the downtown Akron he remembered from 60 years earlier. I listened, as my dad was a walking encyclopedia and even at age 84, he was mentally very sharp. How could I have known my dad only had 20 days left on this earth? But God knew, of course, and how gracious was He to give me this special gift of two precious hours of uninterrupted time with my dad. The memory has come back every time it has snowed this year. And I'm so grateful.