REMINISCING IN THE SNOW

Driving past an empty church today, I saw a crazy high schooler doing donuts in the snowy parking lot. Instantly, I was taken back to my own high school days, when I was dating an edgy, thrill-seeker. He loved anything that would make your body pump high octane adrenaline. He had a hot, fast red car and every time I was inside it, I felt like I was going to die. Whether it was gunning it from a stoplight or driving over 100 mph down deserted country roads or parking lot donuts (with or without the snow), if I was along for the ride, I knew that was going to be the last day of my life. I got into the habit of saying, "I don't want to die today. So could you be a little bit more careful?" Usually, he'd laugh at that, and continue with the blood-boiling feat.

The particular time I recalled today, though, was a snowy day. As the 3-Gs of donutting kept me glued to the passenger-side door, I yelled, "I don't want to die!" When the car regained its composure and skidded to a stop, he looked at me and said with total earnestness, "Lana, why would I want to harm you? You are the most precious thing in my life. I'm not going to do anything that would put your life in danger."

He was not given to such sweet speech all of the time. In fact, at that moment, I'm not sure I'd ever heard anything quite like that out of his mouth, and I'd known him for years.

The only response I could muster was, "Oh." As if the thought had never occurred to me. It's possible that it had not ever occurred to me before.

I smiled as I passed the empty lot this afternoon. That brief memory, that blip on the screen of my life, reminded me of other times. Good times. Pleasant memories.

It was a good day to reminisce.