The edges of the little snow mountain mounds in the middle of the intersections along Buckingham Avenue had already melted into watery puddles, seeping out of the round fence where a long line of adults and children waited for their turn to go in to experience dirty snow transported straight from Mt. Buller.

Of course we queued up, as well. Along with the rest of the other Asians who didn’t want to waste the opportunity, especially as it was free. The wait was definitely longer than the time they gave you to enjoy the snow but enjoy the snow Jeff and Raven did. For five minutes, they made the most out of it, throwing snowballs at each other with ungloved hands and trying not to slip on the icy bits with shoes unfit for the artificially curated landscape.

Raven gifted me with a bit of snow after their time was up. A sweet gesture that warmed my soul but froze my hand and fingers and made me even colder than I already was with my utter lack of layers out of the assumption that the day was going to be as warm as it was the day before. Well, warmish anyway, for Melbourne’s standard.

Bless my precious child, sending her mum on the brink of hypothermia with her love.

It wasn’t just the snow we queued up for. There was the also the fairy floss, the ride tickets, and the Vietnamese and Cambodian food stalls that suddenly had Jeff hungry even after the halal sausage sandwich he had had at the Eid Festival that we checked out earlier to meet up with a friend and her family. There wasn’t much going on there so we left. I was hoping there was gonna be a camel ride but apart from maybe three or four rides, there was only Zaky, the muslim version of Barney who teaches kids Islamic stuff.

Raven has only heard about Jesus a handful of times from friends who go to Catholic schools so as far as religion — any religion — is concerned, she’s not as well-acquainted with it as she is about the universe and the angels and spirit guides and how everyone believes in different things and that’s okay.

Faith is such a deep and complex concept to grasp. I mean, how do I begin to explain to her that we are all Jesus when I myself am still trying to wrap my mind around it with the kind of understanding that transcends the limits of the human intellect?

I can’t even explain my absence from the Catholic Church to my devout mom without vaguely touching on quantum physics . Lol.

Anyway….

By the time Raven was on the mini ferris wheel, the gray clouds followed through on its promise and started spitting. There was Jeff and me out there in the open, looking up at our daughter like the proud parents that we were, even if all she did was sit there and spin around in gentle circles and be happy.

Her happiness is our happiness. Simple as that.

Even if it means getting Jeff’s ass wet sliding down the giant slide because rain or shine, she wasn’t going to let a little downpour dampen her excitement at trying it.

*Raven at 7 years old