It was Christmas Eve and all through the house,

Everyone was running around crazy. Forget about the mouse.

Rum cake was in the kitchen with a barbed wire fence around it so none of the pesky children (or adults) could touch it.

Mariah Carey was blasting through our speaker system, with the children obnoxiously singing along using the TV remotes as microphones.

And six year old me, perched under the Christmas tree writing a letter to Santa about how badly she wanted another Bratz doll so her other one could have a friend.

I kept on asking my mom if Santa told her anything about my present. What was I thinking? Santa doesn’t have a phone.

He communicates telepathically with our parents. Duh.

Anyways, to get my mind off of my present, we ran errands later on that day.

Now, I cannot, for the life of me, remember why we had to go to Academy but we went there. And I was bugging my father so he asked me to wait outside for a bit.

I walked out of Academy and stood right between the two sliding doors, watching fluffy specks of white fall from the sky.

So gracefully, too. Just. Floating its way down right on the tip of my nose. I crossed my eyes to study the white fluff, making sure a pigeon didn’t elegantly poop on me or anything. I wrinkled my nose before my eyes widened.

This could only be one thing, I remembered generously concluding.

And before I could even say what it was, I shot back into the store and tugged at my mom’s sleeve to come join me outside.

I raced back out and we both stood outside of an Academy, arms out like Christ the Redeemer at 10 p.m.

In minutes, a full-fledged snowball fight was happening in the parking lot. I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy being pelted in the face with snow before. Cold and soaking wet, we hopped from parking lot to parking lot, grabbing snow off the cars and running around at what eventually became midnight.

Midnight.

December 25.

Christmas.

That year, I asked for a Bratz doll and I got a Christmas miracle. I stopped focusing on what I wanted so bad and just focused on myself for awhile and I got a surprise. And sure, it’s easier to forget for a five-year-old, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible if you’re older. Once you focus on what you want and work to get there, things will slowly start to fall into place.

What I’m saying is don’t wait for life to happen. Don’t stand around waiting for a storm to come or else, you’ll end up spending your entire life with footprints in the grass the will be gone by tomorrow morning. The best moments in life come when you don’t expect them.

So do the best people.

And the best memories.

That Christmas Eve snowfall in 2004 was the last thing I could have ever asked Santa for.

But every time Christmas rolls around, I think of the best Christmas present I ever could have gotten: A lifelong memory with my family.

So. Enjoy yourself and live life as it greets you because as much as we want to be immortal, we’re not. We only have this one life to make mistakes and laugh until our tummy hurts and eat raw cookie dough batter (please eat in moderation), so let’s not waste that.

Oh, and yes, I did get that Bratz doll that Christmas. She was my favorite one.