Once upon a....snowflake

Snow. Big fat white flakes. It's not the Winter Olympic Games. That's tomorrow and the sisters and I are planning to watch the opening ceremony. It's Irving, Texas and the expected 4-6 inches is not normal February winter behavior. Half an inch of snow would not even be usual for this part of the world.

I remember the first time I saw snow. It was in Lincoln, Nebraska. Everyone told me snow was as common as the grass in the fields. I was suppose to expect it and snow was suppose to be a lot of work because you had to shovel it off the driveways. Snow was dirty too because it turned black once cars drove on it. I had just joined the convent.

Big puffy bits of whiteness fell. It seemed impossibly beautiful. The pines were dressed in sparkling white, the sky was a radiant blue, and the air was crisp with silence. I did not want to breathe, fearful of trespassing on this sacred moment.

"Janine... isn't this beeeeeeeeeautiful?" Jemma whispered. She had softly glided next to me. We both gazed out the glass sliding door into the convent's back yard. There was no one else with us.

"When it snows, one should always watch it with a friend." Jemma continued. I was taken aback. We had just met each other 2 months prior because we both joined the convent. She was from Seattle,Washington and I from Sacramento, California. I was quiet and observant. She was charming and musical. Friends? Her remark surprised me.

Her remark came back to me as it snows in Irving today.
I am watching it with friends.
They are not next to me.
They are in my heart and soul.

Many people think being a nun means you quit having friends.
That's what I thought when I first entered the convent.
Being a nun means your friends become the windows to God's heart.

ps. Jemma and I have become and are still good friends.
ps2. For those who have been to our convent, you know this is St. Joseph in our front doorway, the man of our house!