This week has been insane. There is no other way for me to put it. If you haven't heard Alabama had a snow storm that crippled our city. Tuesday morning I got the kids off to school with the mr {also his place of work thankfully} as any other day and soon after it began to snow. No big deal I thought. I continued piddling around the house. Well, it kept on snowing and it was rather exciting. I have lived here for almost two decades and have yet to see this much snow here. I got the call from the school that it was closing. I thought how fun! Then I got into my car and everything went downhill fast. The snow that had only been going for an hour or so was turning to straight ice. I live 8 minutes from where the rest of my family was and I could not get to them. Cars were sliding everywhere. I saw so many accidents that I lost count. I came very close many times and one of those times was with a jack-knifed 18 wheeler. It took me 2 and half hours to get home and I never left my small town. It also started the deepest/longest prayer session. I felt awful for those who never have driven in snow never mind ice plus with hills every where you go, it was neary impossible. Cars were out of control. I finally made it home and to think that was before it even got truly bad. The following hours/days were awful. The Mr and and the kiddos along with many friends who lived close by tried to make it home together. The city streets were grid locked. The Mr, my kiddos, my bestie who was also picking up her girls with her two boys and mother decided to get out and walk because night was coming. They only had to walk about a mile or so up a hill that no one could get there car up and thankfully was able to get a ride to said friends house. The Mr and kiddos walked home not far from there. I met them with coats and boots that they shooed away just wanting to get home and being rather close plus they were frozen already anyway. Unfortunately due to uniforms they had no winter gear at all with the, not even a jacket. I keep them in my car for after school use. The hours in between I was a mess and could finally breath once I saw them trudge through the woods. I knew there was a good chance they would get stuck in a gridlock since hours before when I was on the road they already began to shut down. I just prayed and thankfully they got close enough. Unfortunately that was only our story and ours was rather happy compared to others. Thousands of people were stuck in their cars over night without any supplies, the lucky ones made it to places like Home Depot, churches, and strangers homes where they were let in and offered a somewhat warm place to stay. Office building were full of people who could not make it home and in many of those places heat is automatically cut off at night. I know when I left the house I wore leggings, tennis shoes, no socks, and a sweatshirt. I thought I would be there and back in 20. I am sure others thought the same that morning. Kids had to stay at school, mother day out programs, and daycares. Many didn't know where their families were in so many cases. People walked miles upon miles to get home or to safety. It was scary. Yesterday and today people retrieved their children {which I could not imagine}, their cars, and hopefully their sanity. It was amazing to see how our city pull together and ordinary citizen's became true hero's. ATV's and 4-wheelers are a common thing here and many were out trying to help people get off the streets to where they were going or to safety. The few who have 4 wheel drive helped the best they could. So many areas were gridlock so badly you couldn't drive through. People invited strangers in, left food and blankets on the medians on interstates then tweeting/instagramming/facebooking it out so hopefully people left stranded had something, anything. Not everyone had the option of ditching there cars and walking miles on ice. My heart broke for many and for myself till I was reunited with my family to be honest, but I felt the presence of God in a mighty way and saw so much good in people over the last few days that it made me stop, pause, and reminded me that every moment is precious. So odd how something so pretty caused so much destruction.
* I learned how to drive in the snow being from up north and having a papa who always wanted me to be prepared for anything. I heard his voice over and over in my head... Don't accelerate fast, if you can let the car start moving itself. NEVER break hard. If you are going up a hill don't stop. Keep distance the best you can from others. Don't fight the slide in a hasty matter it makes you slide worse. Oh, how I wish I could have told the man in front of me on the intersate who had the hardest time keeping his car from spinning in circles. Not sure if he ever did get it under control.
