OXFORD, Miss — The overnight and Sunday morning snowfall carried extra signifance for one Oxford, MS family, who built a snowman in honor of a lost loved one.
David Magee, who works at Ole Miss, tweeted a snowman picture Sunday morning with his son, daughter-in-law and grandson, Wilder.
Magee told ABC24's Chelsea Chandler the family named the snowman in honor of his son William who died from overdose in 2013.
The winter weather and snowman also happened to fall on William's birthday, so his family named it in honor of him and all snow angels out there.
William's father and brother said the special setting of the day made the snowman more impactful.
"It just meant a lot to have something like that that we could say, you know, today is William's birthday and we can name a snowman after him and tell Wilder about that and tell him about the story of it so he kind of know who he is, or who he was," Hudson Magee, William's brother, said.
"It's a birthday miracle and meant to be and there is something beautiful and cleansing about the white snow as it falls and it just reminds that you that every day is just a great day to live and you just kind of get a child like joy of it," David Magee, William's father, added.
In 2019, Ole Miss established the William Magee Center for drug and wellness education and to assist students dealing with addiction.