It snowed last night.

It hadn’t snowed in years. We had been told it wouldn’t snow again, but last night, Mother Nature managed to eke out another inch or two.

The kids went outside to play in it with a sense of wonder. Almost intuitively, they made snowballs to throw at one another. They even attempted to build a snowman like the ones they had seen in story books, but there really wasn’t enough snow to make anything very big. Even though they had to come in after about an hour because their t-shirts and shorts weren’t enough to keep them warm, they had a grand time.

I stayed up all night watching it fall as the whole world slowly turned white. It took me back to my childhood, and I recalled even having school canceled once because of it. But that had been years ago, and those old memories paled next to the visual treat I witnessed last night.

The sun burned away every trace of snow when it rose in the morning. The kids, excited to have been outside the night before, asked if they could go out again. I had to explain that the snow was gone and the sun was back, so it wasn’t safe to go outdoors.

The looks on their faces nearly broke me. It had been cruel, I realized, to be given that taste of how things used to be, only to have it snatched back right away. Still, I hoped it would be a memory they would cherish. And someday, they could tell their children that they had seen real snow.