Vanilla Twilight

Vanilla Twilight

The day was Saturday, January 15th 2009 and the forecast was predicting a snow storm overnight that would potentially shut down businesses. To the rest of Pennsylvania this was disaster, for me and my girlfriend, Gina, this was a white snowy paradise. To add to my enjoyment, my boss at Taco Bell called me reminding me of the storm and told me that I didn’t have to come into work because of the weather. The feeling of going to sleep that Friday night was comparable to children going to sleep the night before Christmas, waiting for Santa to deliver all the presents they anticipated opening.

The morning finally arrived and for once, the weatherman was correct and waking up to the ground blanketed in a snowy white wonderland reminded me of when I was a child. I said to myself “Welcome back winter once again!” I immediately called Gina and spouted out of excitement “Do you see what I see?” and she responded with “YES!” I scurried to the bathroom to begin my morning hour routine of taking a shower and preparing my outfit for the day. This time, it didn’t include my usual jeans and a sweatshirt; it instead included all of my warmest clothes smashed together in a rainbow of colors that didn’t match. I hurried to put my contact lenses in and brushed my teeth.

Like always, my grandmother made coffee in the morning in which the smell filled the entire house and our nostrils with a smell of French Vanilla. I poured myself a mug and ate my usual pretzel granola bar and took my morning One-a-Day vitamin. My stomach was filled with food and coated with the butterfly wings of excitement that the day would bring. My grandmother then rushed down stairs and greeted my with her usual loving “Good morning, how are you today?” I immediately responded with “perfect! How are you?” She knew just how I was feeling and by my expression what my plans for the day were.

I called Gina back to let her know that I was on my way to begin our adventure filled day of...