Blizzard of '08 by Maureen Locher

I risked life and limb to go to Pizza Hut in a snowstorm all the while telling my youngest son what a stupid thing it was that we were doing. Definitely a “do as I say and not as I do” moment. But it was fun. No one was out on the road. I was confident in my four-wheel drive vehicle. We arrived at Pizza Hut to discover that they were closing, sending employees home due to the snow emergency. Uh oh.

But we were still hungry. We drove on down the road settling for drive-thru Taco Bell, but it was closed too. Taco Bell! They are always open. Till 4 a.m.! About this time I was beginning to feel a little bit foolish but we had one more restaurant to try – a little Mom and Pop pizza place. Eureka! They were open and I am happy to say quite full of customers. I was not the only crazy adult out there. This knowledge made me happy.

We ordered and sat there. My 17-year-old said barely a word. I made a little small talk. Stupid stuff. And his cell phone vibrated on the table. He texted his girlfriend back. Now we have had the “it is very rude to text in front of someone” talk several times. He is totally addicted. I do not pay for the cell phone or the minutes. His girlfriend’s parents gave him the phone and pay the bill each month.

I did something very uncharacteristic of me: nothing. Absolutely nothing. I thought, If this kid does not want to talk to me, I don’t want to talk to him either. His loss. And I did not say one word. Just sat there and waited him out. Ate my salad, looked pleasant enough (I think) but said not one word.

“How are Grandma and Grandpa?” he asked. I WON! And we talked all through dinner.

Driving home was scary as heck. I was an idiot to have ventured out. I kept reiterating this point to the boy I’m teaching to drive next week – if the snow ever stops. But we made a memory in this “Blizzard of ’08,” as an eager beaver radio host dubbed it.  And aren’t memories what life’s all about?

Maureen Locher

Copy editor MWLM

Maureen will be MWLM’s newest columnist come the Spring Issue. Check out her column – Just Another Manic Momday. Need a little lift in this blah time of winter? Read Maureen’s blogs at http://maureenlocher.blogspot.com/ ~ To Give God.

Comments

[Karrie McAllister]

We braved the roads here in Orrville, too. I was the last patient at the docs that day, and also the last positive strep test for the day.
Probably the last fill at the pharmacy, too. It was quite a blizzard!

karrie

[Kathy Schlaeger]

Yes, Cincinnati was part of the blizzard of 2008 too. We probably had about 13 inches of snow fall between Friday and Saturday. Not sure where the water and snow is going to go once it warms up to 50 degrees this week.

Lots of restaurants were closed here all day Saturday. You really had to search for one that was open but once you found one you had lots of company.

Kathy

[Veronica]

Maureen:

When we visited Buffalo over Christmas, we were out and about one day. The girls were getting hungry. We drove up to a McDonald's; it was closed. We went down the street and the burger king and other restaurant were closed too. At 2PM! We were like what the...?

Random power outage is the explanation. We just don't get those in Arizona.