A snowfall makes everything beautiful.

When snow unexpectedly blanketed Pike County on Feb. 12, Kim Hollis and her family took the opportunity to meander through the woodlands and along the creekbank around their home near Banks.

The snow had transformed the usually bare winterscape into a rare Southern winter wonderland.

The Hollis family covered every inch of the wonderland in an effort not to miss any of the beauty around them.

But when snow begins to melt, it often leaves slush and mush behind, especially around a creekbank.

It was there on the creekbank that Kim Hollis discovered a Mylar balloon that had evidently been there for some time.

“It was covered in mud and I was lucky to see it,” Hollis said. “I thought that it must be one of the message balloons that schools and churches send up. And it was.”

Inside the balloon was a muddy and ragged piece of paper with a message in a child’s handwriting.

“The message read, ‘ God I would like you to help the people in Hatia and all the other children and people that need help in the world. Thanks,’” Hollis said.

“And what was even more moving was what was written on the back. ‘Keep the angels over my mother.’ That made me wonder if the mother of the child, who wrote the message and sent up the balloon, was in Haiti and was a victim of the earthquake that hit Haiti in January.”

The message balloon with a poignant and mysterious message inside was found because of a rare snowfall and a family’s desire to enjoy the beauty around them.

“But washed visible by the slush of a Southern snowfall was something of even greater beauty, a child’s message of love for his or her mother and a prayer for angels to watch over her.”