Ice dream FINAL Edition

• Published in: The Gazette (Montreal)
• Main Author: Lapalme, Richard
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: Montreal, Que Postmedia Network Inc 02.03.1997
• ISSN: 0384-1294

When I was a boy, it seemed that there was always a reason for a party in my family. The Christmas holidays had barely passed when we'd all gather for my grandfather's birthday in early January. Later in January, my parents had their birthdays and then came my grandmother's birthday in February. This was always a big event and the family celebrated it on the Saturday closest to the date. Back in 1961, when I was 10, Nanny's birthday celebration fell on Saturday, Feb. 25. I remember that it began to rain as we arrived. My dad asked my grandmother for some cardboard because the rain was already freezing to the car windows. I watched from the living room window as Dad secured the cardboard, cut from a Steinberg grocery box, to the windshield with the wipers. My uncle Mario told us why Dad was putting the cardboard on, as he and the other men scrambled to find more cardboard to protect their windshields. That was fine, I thought, but what about the other windows? I have forgotten the details of the party; however, I do remember sitting in the car, side windows thick with ice, watching Dad peel the cardboard from the windshield. It actually worked; the cardboard had protected the windshield and it was ice-free. A few peep holes were opened up in the other windows by the joint forces of the car heater and Dad's methodical scraping. On the drive home, the rhythmic flowing and ebbing of Dad's reflected shadow on the back seat lulled me to sleep.