Thilini Pathirana
From the “let it snow” wish, I was instantly dragged to other little moments of my childhood. Once I got home after school (obviously disheartened because it never snowed), I always anticipated the special coconut toffee my aunt brings us daily on the way from work. She was a teacher and still is. She never failed to delight us with those toffees. Those were delicate and sweet 2 x 2 inched square-shaped toffees in light pink, blue and green.
As I looked outside the window a few weeks back in 2023, experiencing my first snowfall in another country, I was startled at my own memory. I could still remember myself tugged in a little blue school uniform, dating back to 23 years. I used to wear two little pigtails on my bob haircut and probably almost as tall as one meter. I’d hold my mom’s hand until I entered the classroom, and then she’d leave to drop my little brother at preschool. Before we started school, we had a prayer time known as the ‘silent bell’ where all students stood by the desks and observed two minutes of silence to do prayers. Well… being a little girl at that time, with my eyes tightly closed, the only daily prayer I ever had was, “Let it snow today, let it snow today, please”. Living on a tropical island, it would have been a miracle if my prayer had been answered at least once.
Then came the weekends when my mom used to take my brother and me to the British Council’s library and after that for swimming lessons. Every Saturday, she would take us, and we couldn’t wait. We borrowed books from the library…six books each, and then we headed for private swimming lessons. The road to the swimming pool complex of Trinity College had beautiful, enormous pink trumpet trees on both sides and walking under them felt magical, especially during the blooming season. I secretly wished that all the flowers falling to the ground were snowflakes. I still remember our vibrant little swimsuits and how we used to run around the pools with the swimming boards. Getting transferred from the baby pool to the big pool was the proudest achievement of every kid. We were often saddened when the coach signalled to us with his whistle that the time was up…sometimes we pretended not to hear. After the swimming lessons, our mom would take us for snacks. She’d buy us Chinese rolls and sometimes ice cream from the Soya Center in Kandy. I still remember the flavour and the aroma of those rolls…you could catch it from a distance.
From weekdays to weekends…school holidays would approach. Not just school holidays but Christmas holidays. Still no snow, to my dismay. I can’t believe I dragged cypress branches from the garden into the living room to create a tiny forest. What’s worse was that I reached the ceiling fan using a chair and lined up the blades with many tiny balls of cotton. Then it was only a matter of switching the fan on, and it would snow…a cotton ball snowfall.
Setting the balls of cotton and snacks aside, it suddenly reminds me that I’m old enough to have my own kids now. Nevertheless, I can’t believe how some random snowflakes were able to bring out some of my most cherished memories from childhood. It breaks my heart to be far away from them, thinking of all the lovely little memories we had as kids. I wish I could go back in time….back to a child with my brother, holding her hand and walking down that road again….
