Winter trip with family

We drove up the snowy, winding road toward the cozy A-frame cabin. I watched the snowflakes as they danced outside my car window, seamlessly doing pirouettes around one another.

“We’re almost there!” Dad exclaimed from the driver’s seat, tapping his hands excitedly on the steering wheel. He turned his head to the backseat, looking at my brother and me with the widest grin. “Can’t you already smell the hot chocolate?”

“Eyes on the road, dear,” Mom playfully chided.

“Yes, ma’am!”

I looked over to my 14-year-old sibling whose eyes were glued to his handheld gaming device. Yeah, I wasn’t too excited about this trip either.

It was winter break and although I had wanted to spend the weekend skiing with my friends from uni, my parents were insistent on me spending it with family instead. The winter cabin getaway had been a tradition. The four of us would take a weekend trip to the rented cabin for two days of sledding, card games, and that hot chocolate Dad was so excited about.

It had been quite a few years since the last trip to the cabin. Some years my parents were unable to take time off from work. In other years the financial hardships that bogged our family down just hit a little harder. So, when they excitedly called me the week before saying we could finally head back to the cabin, I struggled to even remember our winter cabin getaways.

Then I told them over and over again that I was “too old” for taking a red plastic sled down the big hill by the cabin and drinking anything topped with mini marshmallows. But, alas, after much pleading that led me down on a harrowing guilt trip, I gave in. After all, what was one weekend? My friend’s chalet would be there next weekend...hopefully.

If anything, I could just hide up in the cabin’s loft, maybe binge that new TV series I kept hearing good things about.

When we finally pulled up to the cabin, Dad alerted us to the fact with a singsong-y “We’re here!”

I unbuckled my seat belt and opened my car door, taking a step onto the crunchy white snow that had been making its home on the ground for the season. I expelled a foggy breath to indicate how truly cold it was outside.

Admittedly though, the cabin was beautiful as I took a moment to take it in. The wooden exterior and big, boxy windows seemed to invite me to come closer, to come inside and take a seat by the fireplace once the logs were gathered and the flames were resurrected.

It was only just a couple of days...how bad could it be?

***

“Can I go back inside?” I asked, shivering in my winter jacket.

After bringing our bags in from the car, before I could sneak away to the loft, Dad informed my brother and me that he found our old sled that had been left there years ago. The two of us grumbled at Dad’s attempt to get us back outside, but we relented as his pitiful pleas were getting irritating. The faster we got this done, the faster the weekend would be over...or so I told myself.

“Megan, don’t tell me university has drained you of all your fun!” Dad teased. He held the long red sled towards me, offering it like a prize I had absolutely no desire to win.

“No,” I replied with a bit of snark. “All of my fun just so happens to be frozen in a block of ice because it’s winter and it’s too cold outside.”

“You used to love sledding as a child!”

“Child’ being the operative word, Dad. I’m too old for this now.” I looked over to my brother, who was only acknowledging the phone in his hands. “How about Bentley goes first?”

“I don’t wanna,” he simply said.

“Come on, indulge me,” Dad pleaded. His lower lip drooped, and his eyes widened to display a rather pathetic puppy dog face. “Please?”

I reluctantly grabbed the sled. Sighing, I set it down on the snowy ground and soon sat myself down on it. I gripped the edges of the sled and looked down the hill. It used to be so steep when I was younger; a speedy plunge into the snowy depths below, an exhilarating thrill ride that made me feel like I was going the speed of light. Now it would just be a slow and steady ride to the bottom.

And yet, when I said “Ready” and Dad pushed the sled, as I began to make that descent down the hill, something came over me. The magic of nostalgia had cast a spell on me. Excitement...joy...dare I say even a little bit of happiness had taken hold of me, enthralling me as I coasted down the snowy hill.

Near the bottom of a said snowy hill, somehow, I lost my balance and tipped the sled over, going face first into the cold powdered snow. My brother laughed like a hyena from the top of the hill, boasting that he filmed it all on his phone. Normally when Bentley laughed at me or tried to embarrass me in some way, I made it my mission to teach him a lesson. But instead of being angry, upset that my face was now cold and wet and possibly anticipating a bit of frostbite, I just laughed too.

That...that was fun. I was having fun! Maybe this weekend wouldn’t be so bad after all.

I picked myself off the ground and grabbed the sled.

“Actually...can I go next?” I heard Bentley ask Dad.

“Not until I go again!” I cried out.

***

“And that is rummy!” I bragged, freeing my hand of all cards.

“How do you always win?” Mom asked, setting her cards down on the table a little too aggressively.

“Just face it, Mom, you will never be able to take down me, Megan, the champion of the cards!”

“Here we are...four hot chocolates!” Dad beamed with mugs of warm and deliciously chocolatey goodness. He set a mug down in front of me and I noticed all the extra mini marshmallows I requested taking a nice soak at the top.

“Thanks, Dad,” I said with a smile.

“Snow problem!” he replied, winking as he sat down next to Mom on the couch. I groaned, even though deep down I appreciated the pun.

“Should we let your brother know his hot chocolate is ready?” Mom asked.

“No, Bentley looks like he’s having fun with his new snowman friend he made,” I replied, taking a sip of my hot chocolate. The warm beverage made my insides sing carols lauding the flavor.

“I suppose he’ll come in when he’s ready,” she said with a small smile.

For a moment, the three of us sat in the living area with the crackling of the fireplace providing a wintery ambiance. I took another sip of my drink and, despite it being alcohol-free, I felt the courage to say something. Something I never thought I would say this weekend.

“Thank you.”

“For what?” both Mom and Dad asked in unison.

“For basically forcing me to come out here,” I joked, but let my tone return to a more serious note. “I forgot how much I loved this place, how much I loved being here with the four of us spending time together in this wintery wonderland. That first year when you told Bentley and me that we wouldn’t be coming here for the weekend, I was heartbroken. Of course, I didn’t understand why until much later, with the two of you trying to overcome the burdens life hurled at you...but by then, the cabin no longer felt important.”

I chuckled to myself. “It only took me face-planting the snow to remember the fond memories this place has inside and outside these walls. If anything, I--”

My heartfelt words were interrupted by a loud banging on the door, followed by a surprised “Hey, I’m locked out!” from Bentley. Both of my parents turned towards his voice.

“Is he locked out?” Mom asked.

“I may have locked the door as payback for him filming my sledding slip-up earlier,” I confessed with a sly smile and not an ounce of guilt in me.

“Come on, let me in! It’s cold!” Bentley continued to plead from the other side of the door.

“Don’t worry, I’ll let him in,” I said with a grin. “Once I finish my hot chocolate that is.”

Yeah, this weekend definitely won’t be so bad after all.