Storms come with a vengeance and can do so much damage.   It stops people in their paths and makes things slow down.  In 1967, I was working down in the Chicago Loop in a building on Wacker Drive near Jackson Blvd.   I remember coming out of the building to a flurry of wet snow.  It was windy and the air took your breath away.   I needed to walk over the river to Union Station and the walk seemed far even though it was only a few blocks.  Of course, the bridge was icy as always.

There was one strange thing that I will always remember.   In the City of Chicago, there are always people around.   This was a weekday, but I saw no one around me until I reached the Train Depot.   The snow had come down so heavily that the trains were stuck.   And the snow kept coming.  By the time I got to my stop in La Grange, Illinois, everything was at a standstill.  Cars were stuck in snowbanks.  I remember walking home over 3 miles in this snow.  It was the only way to get there.  Youth and the desire to get home made the walk compelling.

This is a recent snow. In 1967 nothing was identifiable because everything was covered in snow. The City of Chicago and Suburbs came to a standstill. People abandoned their cars; there was no choice cause no one could move.

Along the way, cars were stuck everywhere.   The local store where I would stop to warm up was emptying of food.  People were trying to stock up on supplies.  They would need to do that.   Later on the news, the  media showed cars, buses, and trucks blocking up the expressways.  NO ONE could move except on foot.   A couple of feet was impossible to move and there was no where to go with it.  It was over our heads in places.  What started out as a steady snowfall just escalated.  Soon nothing was identifiable due to it being covered.  Cars were totally buried for weeks.

So what did I learn in that experience?   We are so very fortunate with cars and modern technology that things changed in all these years.   People have cell phones and ways to communicate.   We didn’t have a way to connect with our families.  People had power shortages and a lack of daily needs.  Stores, businesses, and churches closed.

Most things can wait.  Not everything was an emergency. People did experience heart attacks and other medical problems from the stress and strain of trying to shovel or get around.   Getting people to hospitals was an issue.  Prioritizing was essential.

It taught us to be better prepared and grateful to kind people.   We needed to look out for one another.   It  was a temporary situation and things eventually changed for the better, but not without patience on the part of so many of us. It taught us to put our own agendas aside to help one another who needed shoveling done or errands run.  We had an elderly family next door and they were really stranded.  The snowstorm called on neighbors to check on one another.

FINALLY, mini miracles happened.  it was the first time I saw people rallying together.  Respect to the elderly was being shown.   People were grateful for food, warmth, and the basics that we all take for granted.  Hopefully we all can remember to do this on a regular basis and not wait until we have emergency situations.  I am so pleased we haven’t had this type of thing occur in recent years.

Peace for the Weekend.   Have a good one!

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