Skiing and Lost Keys

Our family went on a skiing trip with a few family friends during Christmas break in sixth grade. On the last day, we skied on the slopes for most of the morning until going to our rented cabin to pack up and drive home. However, after dragging our luggage out to the car that my dad realized his keys were missing. We couldn’t go home. 

Frantically searching through his pockets, he discovered that he probably lost them while skiing in the morning. My parents left me with our family friend to try to find them. 

My mom tells me that after they arrived at the slopes we skied on, my dad walked up the hills to find his keys. Keys buried under the snow are tough to find. As she was waiting, some other skiers noticed and asked why she seemed so distraught. She told them the story, and they said to her that one of their kids found a pair of keys buried underneath the snow and gave it to one of the ski resort workers. 

I think mom always tells this story during Christmas because it happened during Christmas🎄. And it’s nice to joke about something that in the moment seemed unreal(kinda stressful :) ). We still could have made it home by carpooling with our family friends, but our car would have been stuck there. The point of view is a little biased because my dad has a track record of losing things, and my mom and I always laugh about it. My mom probably brings it up every year as a subtle reminder for him to not lose his keys again.

I always think it’s such a coincidence that the other family who had a conversation with my mom had found the keys on the snow. The hills were huge, and area-wise, the probability of finding a small object like keys is just so small. 

We haven’t been skiing in a while, and listening to the story makes me recall the warm feelings of that trip.