A Snow Globe Taught Me What Was Important In Life
By: Kim Mckinney
Tags: Self, Family, Relationships, Values, This Happened To Me

A Snow Globe Taught Me What Was Important In Life

People over things, every time

Photo by Paulina Šleiniūtė on Unsplash

I was 18. A normal teenager. A bit self-centered and trying to figure out what kind of person I was going to be in life.

My first niece was about two. I adored her. She would toddle around, grasping furniture and everything else in her reach. We were careful to make sure that wasn’t much.

I had been given a snow globe as a gift. I loved snow globes. Something about that glittery snow falling around everywhere was mesmerizing to me. I could look at them for ages.

This one was particularly special. A village in glass, looking like something out of Dickens. I treasured it from the minute I unwrapped the gift and saw it. It was the prettiest one I had ever seen.

I had it sitting in the table next to where I sat on the couch. From time to time, I would pick it up and shake it, and smile. It gave me peace and made me happy.

My niece was just beginning to walk. Everyone was watching her, but as she waddled around sometimes, there would be occasions where no one’s eyes were on her for a second or two. That’s when a child moves fastest.

At some point, I got up and left the room for just a minute.

As I came back into the room, I saw little Sara had made her way over to the table. She picked up the snow globe and shook it just as she had watched me do.

It was a slow-motion moment.

“Nooooooooo!” I shouted emotionally. That may mean loudly. Too loudly to scream around a child.

She smiled at me and shook it harder. It was heavy. Too heavy for such a little girl. It fell from her hands. And it shattered.

My first response was anger. How could my sister not be paying better attention to her daughter? Why didn’t anyone notice she had headed that way? Why do these things always happen to me? Why did she have to ruin my things?

She could have destroyed any other gift I received, and it would have been OK. But my snow globe? My precious snow globe? That was the one that mattered. The one that was irreplaceable.

Everyone else was trying to clean up the glass fragments and keep Sara out of the way.

I was devastated. I burst into tears.

Little Sara looked at me, and she burst into tears, too.

I wanted to ignore her and marinate in my pain.

Then a voice in my head whispered, “She’s more important than the snow globe,”

I didn’t believe it for a second. But only for a second. I looked at Sara and realized she was far more valuable than any material thing on this planet, and my tears were scaring her.

“Come here,” I said to her.

I held her until we both stopped crying. I’m not sure who kept it up the longest. The money may be on me.

I learned a lesson that has stayed with me ever since.

Accidents happen. Hearts are broken. But people who cause accidents should be of higher importance to us than things.

I believe I would still have that snow globe today if Sara had not gotten her hands on it then. It would have been one of my treasured possessions. I have never seen one I liked better, nor do I have I had one I loved more.

But Sara is in her early 40s now, and she has certainly proven to be more precious than any material thing, She has given my life far more pleasure than any snow globe could have. Experiences with a snow globe are limited, but the wealth that a human being brings to your life is immeasurable.

Yes, even more, immeasurable than the most exquisite snow globe ever. That beautiful fantasy village died that day, but my future course was clear.

Any precious material thing loses when compared to a human I love. That lesson has given me a life filled with more joy and good memories than I ever dreamed.