Ice Storm

Ice Storm 2009 As I lay in bed listening to the cracking and popping of branches falling, trees tumbling, and ice sliding off the roof tops, I think to myself, “Wow, this is all real. ” I have awakened to this cold silent house with no electricity, no heat, and no steaming hot water, which is all what I’m used to. Its all hard for me to believe that my grandparents and great-grandparents had to live without all the amenities that our modern society looks upon as small privileges easily handed to them.

I remember it all as if it was yesterday. Wishing, hoping, and praying the night before school that it would snow so that I could suit up, grab my sled, and take off down the road amidst my group of friends. At 16 years old I would not have thought or dreamed that there was such terrible things that could happen. As I wake up that morning to the blank look of my clock with no big red numbers upon it, I hurried to grab my phone only to realize that it’s dead.

I jump up running to my parent’s room only to find out that the school had already been canceled. I run to the window only to see there is little snow on the ground, but big huge icicles hanging off the power lines, and there is a giant tree across my drive way. As minutes go by it only gets worse with no electricity, heat, cell phone, long steaming, hot showers, and eventually discovering my aunt was on her way here. Soon after she arrived is when it all begins: fighting, bickering, complaining, and whining.

It starts off with the first words out of her mouth, “I’m sleeping in your bed tonight,” Then she proceeds to pile all of her crap up in my room, which just isn’t going to fly especially if she thinks I’m going to be sleeping on the cold couch instead of my own cozy bed. Well, from there on it didn’t get any better, not only was it freezing cold, and no electricity, but I was going to have to put up with my old cranky aunt. I do have a funny story on her though: she was trying to light one of Mom’s oil lamps and almost caught the house on fire because she had the wick too high!!

We had no clue what she was doing until we heard her screaming in the background,” Help, help, hurry. ” Luckily, by the second day Moms work place ended up bringing all of their employees generators supplied with gas and a bunch of food to feed a family for a week. Dad, the handy man that he is, was able to hook our furnace and refrigerator up, therefore, we had wires extension cords strayed all over the house. After he finally had it all hooked up, I was relieved to be able to take a nice hot steamy shower.

We all seemed to get along a lot better with us able to clean ourselves up. And in the end I even enjoyed spending time with my Aunt Carol after all. I will say that even though I wanted snow, but I got ice instead, it was a good experience for me and my family. We made memories that we will never forget. Sometimes I think we take everything for granted and we shouldn’t because you never know what may happen. In the end it made me realize that I am truly blessed to have all my family and friends, and there is now way I could live without them.