The Coat

Yesterday it snowed in Mississippi. I am not talking about the occasional light dustings that barely cover the ground. This was real, almost 6 inches on the ground (by official reports), snow.

And it immediately brought back memories of the last time I saw snow like this. It was 1966, in Russum Mississippi. I was 7 years old, a tiny thing, and this snow came almost to my bony little knees.

I had recently been given my first really beautiful coat. It was a bright blue, with white fake fur trim. We were not well-to-do, so items like this were rare in my life.

Well, I went outside on that snowy day in 1966 and played to my heart's content. I went indoors to warm myself at the Panel-Ray heater on the bedroom wall. I toasted my front, then turned around to warm my back.

Sufficiently warmed, I turned away from the heater and heard my mother gasp. Unaccustomed to "fur", I had been standing too close to the heater. My lovely coat was singed all the way down the back in the pattern of the heater's grill.

So, it was back to "hand me down" cloth coats from cousins and garage sales. The next time I was able to have a new coat, I was 17 years old.

But, I still remember that magical snow in 1966. Good thing, as the memory had to last 43 years! And now I have a new one. The magical snow of 2010.