Once There Was A Snowstorm http://llaga22.blog.friendster.com/2007/12/once-there-was-a-snowstorm)

  New England is known for its unpredictable weather. Correction, for it's wicked extreme weather. So, it should not come in as a big surprise for me to experience snowstorm, right? Wrong. Although I had my share of snow, I have never seen it as a nuisance. I guess because I am still enjoying the novelty of it to me as an individual from a tropical country. In fact, I still reminisce that time I had my first glimpse of snow. We were on our way back from Canada and just exited the border when snowflakes started to magically appear. It was magnificent. It was a joy unknown to me. I have seen snow in movies and I always thought of it as magical, but I did not know until that precise time how magical it is. Truly a wonder .Imagine the snowflakes glistening from the black night of equally magical December... I just had to stop... feel it... experience it... taste it, literally! Now my movie scenes are real!  I remember the movie I used to watch over and over, "The Never Ending Story". Wow, it is such a great experience. So was the cars honking to death because I was stopped on the highway! Well to really be  honest, I do not know if they were honking because they were annoyed, they thought it was dangerous, or maybe they are showing solidarity to my new experience. Nevertheless, those thoughts were far behind at that moment. Of course, I took pictures of me with the snow. One of the few things very " Filipino". Like taking pictures on apple picking day, pictures with expensive cars that are not yours ( I have not done this , YET), and pictures with the

dead, in all their wide smiles.

  

 Back to the snowstorm. Last Thursday, December 13th, Boston was at a stop! Commercially , economically and socially. Essential employees are asked to stay because the next shift is not expected to be there. I started the afternoon with my usual routine. Ready to pick up the kids at 1:40, was in school around 1:50 and off the parking lot by 2pm. The moment I was getting into the highway towards Boston, I knew there was something wrong.  You see, my commute on regular days max only 30 mins, that is on a bad day. So, it has been 45 minutes and I am just a mile away from the parking lot. It was a mess! A disaster! My usual commute took me 6 hours and 45 minutes.  I can not tell you enough how my hip hurt, and my shoulders were so stiff, I can not rotate the coarse adjustment of a microscope!  I was ready for snow, that is why I took my truck, the Toyota Sequoia, it did perform well, but man, that is  a whole lot of metal to stir on my Filipino build!

Anyone can check photos on line  for details of the craziness of that day, so let me not go into details regarding that. What I want to share is my experience on the road. I was with my kids, I do not know if that is good or not. I just know it felt safe thinking they were with me. It was fun for them in the beginning, they became restless later. But what we have seen and experienced is truly an eye opening experience.  There was a lot of love on the road that day, specifically I-93.

 

People getting off from their cars, offering to clean someone else's because their wipers are not working, or simply offering to pour ice melts on their windshields. There is this guy who offered  his "bright" light so the guy in front ( small car) can see far ahead. You see the muscle cars  block the way, and with zero visibility because of the snow, there is a lot of danger. One car I guess, was out of gas,  a construction man ( I can tell, by his service truck) offered his ammunition of gas in his load. 

See the guy, holding an umbrella? He is helping the other car start!

Meanwhile as we inch closer to the Longwood Medical Area, there is a car that was just totally stopped, turns out his battery went kaput! Again, a man offered his car jumper to spark his battery to make the car start again, whoala! You can hear the clanking sound but hey, engine is running! At the Orchard School, two ambulances were stuck, there is this huge FedEx delivery van that completely closed the road, they had to move one patient to the other service, everyone cleared the back road so the ambulance can reach Longwood Medical! How cool is that? One road totally opening up! It was sad seeing a few school bus still on the road, but people were still smiling, i am sure very tired and annoyed, at one point someone blared their Christmas music so the kids on the school bus can sing along! Beat that! I bet there were others that did not witness, and I did a couple of "angel" works too, but that is not for me to write but the next person... beside, my angel saw it. I do not have to write about it. It is already written, in the bookpages of " Bernadette's good deed of the Day".

 

That is outside. Let me tell you about a beautiful thing that had happened inside the car.  We were tuned in to a Christmas Station and they were doing their annual Wish-A-Ton, for sick kids. What it is, people call and pledge money so that the foundation can grant the wishes of kids stricken with cancer. I always try to allocate $300 of our meager family income to charitable causes, it varies,I donate into cultural charities, sometimes for the Philippine's Bantay Bata. I have a soft spot for child advocacy. The lady DJ said ' We know you must be stuck in there, but if you have access to a cellphone, you can join us and be a part of this great thing..." or something to that effect.  My kids, almost at the same exact moment said, " Mom, we should do that!" Oh yeah, while navigating the icy trek, they want me to call! Christoper said he would dial the phone and speak with them, that they would love to put their name on the donation.  I was so scared of the road that I told them I can not concentrate. They let it go, but again, the station announced that whatever donations we give will be matched by Bank of America... and my son's face lit up. He said that  even if we give $10 each ( $50 for the whole family), it will be great because, it will then be $100. With that who can let go of that brewing generosity inside  a child? I told them to call and that we are donating. They were able to get on the phone and all this time he gave them details of our " little" donations. I saw his eyes sparkle as he was speaking to them. He was so happy he was helping, at the same time he knows someone will be happy too. Wish granted! Granted for him and me. For that is my wish, for my kids to grow up socially responsible and selfless. Knowing that they are able to share whatever little thing we have is a good start for me.

As they say, you can choose to see things differently. I choose to focus on the beauty of the world, the innate goodness of everyone. I know darkness lurks and is ready to attack anytime but what good will it do to you if you are closing your world because of that fear. There is always something beautiful about a person or situation, let us focus on that!
Wish granted!


This is the original post