The Day the Snow Found Howard

For a while he watched the snowfall from his bed upstairs where he had gone to nap after lunch . Dismissed earlier was the hope that the snow would actually be coming to Overlook though it had been predicted and indeed it had come to areas south and west of Macon...but at the highest point in Macon...there had been no precipitation other than light rain. Howard had remarked that snow falling at our house might just be "too exciting" at this point. We prayed the snow would go to Hartwell, for Cheri, Jeffie, Austin and Katie...we could almost see them .... making their wonderful snow angels. We hoped Katie would wear her galoshes, and Austin would have on his warmest jacket and cap. Maybe Baby Ella would even catch a snowflake in her new little hand too. But Howard's heart reminded him that he so needed the sight of it too. Overlook Ave. had, after all, been the point he and Paula would drive to when their own Paul, Candi and Cheri were small so that they could see the snow, the elevation being perfect for the most accumulation in their area. And Howard the Knight, even in those years, was always determined to seek out the snow, for he loved it he thought, perhaps as much as any other soul in this world.

During Sunday afternoon, as if Mother Nature had prepared the surprise just for him, huge snowflakes began to fall....some as large as half dollars. Howard must see it happen. Normally never waking him from his nap time, we now hurried to open the drapes in the bedroom, lest he miss the sight of it. For a while, still feeling as if in a dream state, Howard watched huge flakes fall through the tall trees outside his window onto the big window sill. He must, he said, get dressed and see the back garden. The ground, the rooftops quickly becoming covered with the magical white blanket that would continue to thicken during Sunday afternoon. The boxwoods scattered throughout the yard, the junipers, the snapdragons and pansies began to give to the weight of the new fallen snow. Mother Nature had once more performed a miracle......just in time. Howard's new eyes seemed to absorb the scene in disbelief .....a new kind of special blessing especially for this southern gentleman.... the sight of snow, as with many other things, looks truly different to a man experiencing chemotherapy. He fully realized the true Miracle of Mother Nature's winter spectacle. While he savored the memories of making "the chase", today was somehow sweeter, more incredible. What would best have described his passion for the sight of it, perhaps the purity...certainly the sheer magnificence of it...........now, today...simply experiencing it once more as a man changed by the recent alteration of his own life experience. And now he realized...what he was seeing through his new eyes was the NOW NESS of life itself...snowflakes, magical suspended crystallized forms, each one uniquely shaped...as with us all....each one holding the secret of the present moment...present moments creating the essence of life itself....all things coming perfectly together to create the whole.

Not only had Howard the Knight found snow...in his own warm house, on his own little mountain, perhaps he had also discovered new reasons for his love of the sight of it....this time the snow had come to him....perfectly timed...perfectly placed. The coming together of all necessary conditions for the formation of snowflakes reminds Howard the Chemist how in the future all things necessary will come together for the cures of human disease. In the meantime, while the seasons come and go, the chase for the cures will continue. We pray that in some special way, our process will help pave the way to those solutions.

And perhaps next winter, God willing, Howard and Paula will chase the snow again. Until then we savor the memories....and embrace the present moments.....and give thanks for each other and you... even more unique in our world than a snowflake.
Peace, Joy, Love