There is no Winter in Heaven

I was thinking about my mom and dad today.
I miss them.
Dad was someone you wanted to grow up to be.
He was a basketball star in high school, who left college to join the service in WWII, as did all his brothers.
He came about as close to dying on a south pacific beach as a Marine can, only his buddies pulling him to safety saved his life. He spent a year in the hospital in San Diego and when he returned to Rhode Island, he and my mom wed and went on to have 4 boys and 2 girls.
He passed on in 1984, on the evening Ronald Reagan was re-elected. My theory is that this son of a retired democratic president of the Rhode Island state senate couldn't handle 4 more years. He was about the age I am now, which gives me something to think about. There have been many times when I wish he were still around to talk to, to share my hopes, dreams and fears with, and to seek advice from.
Mom was our caregiver, and with 6, I'm sure that was a full time position. I guess she saw the inside beauty in people, especially my dad, who returned from the war with significant scarring. That was mom, always looking for the good in people. Later in her life, when it became harder for her to get around, I would visit her on my days off.  We would go out to the store, she always had exquisite taste in clothes, and she was always looking for a deal. She became my confidant with whom I would share everything that was happening in my life.  She would patiently listen to me go on and on about my involvement in the union movement.  I'm glad we had that, it was a new development in our relationship and became special to me.
There's a lot going on in my life now.
I wish I could pick up the phone and tell them about it, but somehow, I think they know.
The reason I was thinking about them today is because I was out in the wind and blowing snow shoveling the driveway.
I remembered the way dad would look back on winter once the spring came.  He'd say, "Well, we made it through another one."
And later in life, before mom move to assisted living, she became isolated in her condo because of the fear of falling on the ice and driving in the snow.
So, yes, I miss them, but I'm happy for them too.

You see, there is no cold, no ice, no snow, in Heaven.
Because in Heaven, there is no winter.