The north wind blew early that fall, not so many years ago. It brought with it the first winter snow; A heavy wet snow that clung to the branches of the trees. The type that one had to remove from a car windshield by hand because the windshield 
wipers refused to move under the weight.

My younger brother Wayne, who was eight, ran straightway to the front yard and started rolling the snow together for a snowman. In his haste he failed to dress properly for the unseasonably cold air.

Seeing this, Mom opened the front door just enough to shout " Wayne, you get in here and get your coat on. "

Wayne stopped what he was doing and reluctantly went back inside, grumbling to himself.

" Young man, " mom said as she stood in the kitchen, " You really shouldn’t be out in the cold; You have a slight fever already. "

" Aw mom, " said Wayne, " I’ll be okay. My friends and I have a bet on who will build the first snowman this year, and now is my chance. "

" Well, " Mom said. " You get your snowman built and get back in here where it’s warm. "

" I will," shouted Wayne as he ran from the house.

That afternoon Wayne’s snowman stood facing the street with its blue baseball cap on top of its oversized head. Wayne had used some blue coat buttons for its eyes. A nearby tree furnished two broken branches for the arms, which he placed 
nearly vertical from the sides. A three-inch piece of limb was used for the nose. For the snowman’s mouth, Wayne used a zipper Mom had removed from an old coat, curling it up into a large smile.

During the night that followed the weather grew colder and encased the snowman in ice.

That same night my brother’s fever became much worse. Mom called the nearby hospital and told the nurse there that Wayne’s fever was at 102 degrees and that he complained of a terrible headache. The nurse told mom to bring Wayne in.