Snow Days

Our kids had a snow day from school this past week. It was Lauren and Evan's second snow day ever and Danielle's third. It's not that we don't get much snow here. It's just that being in the city, roads get cleared faster and buses aren't traveling country roads. Back on the farm, we had lots of snow days. I remember listening to the radio and TV just waiting to hear that school was cancelled after a big snowfall. The minute it was announced that Caledonia was closed for the day, the cheering began! Here, we just assume that school will go on as usual. But when it is cancelled, we actually get an automated phone call announcing the closure. Early this past Wednesday morning, I was out shoveling the driveway. We had gotten several inched of snow overnight. Suddenly, Evan came out of the house screaming. I thought something happened to our new puppy. But Evan was hollering that school was cancelled! When I looked down at his feet, I realized he'd been so excited to tell me the news, he had run outside barefoot!

While the snow day this week was exciting for the kids, the one they got last year was one I'll never forget. Or maybe it's just the timing I will never forget. It happened on Leap Day, February 29. That was my mom's birthday. Being a Leap Day baby, she only had a "real" birthday every four years. When she had a real birthday, we always made a big deal out of it. The family would all gather to celebrate. Mother would receive cards and phone calls from what seemed like half the town of Caledonia. When I was in high school, the Caledonia Argus did an article on her having this special birth date. She commented in her interview that her youngest daughter (me) was older than she was. By the time of her death in 2011, she had grand kids that were older than she was. I recently found newspaper notices from 1928 and 1932 telling of birthday parties my grandma threw in honor of my mom's first two "real" birthdays.

The winter of 2011-2012 brought very little snowfall to the Twin Cities. During the last week of February, the forecast was calling for a big snowstorm to hit on Feb 29. I told the kids that Grandma must be up in Heaven trying to convince God to let them have a snow day. Not only was it her first birthday since she died, it was a "real" birthday to boot. As the week went on, the forecast changed a few times. By the time we went to bed on Feb 28, it appeared we would get little or no snow. But while we slept, the snow began to fall. And it began to accumulate. By morning, there were several inches on the ground. Just before 6 a.m. our phone rang. It was an automated message announcing that school was cancelled for the day due to the weather! By about 6:10, our kids were outside playing in the snow. It's humorous to me how early the kids are wide awake on a snow day. On regular school days, they can hardly drag themselves out of bed.



Mother with her 20th birthday cake in 2004



When you lose someone you love, the "firsts" are very difficult. I knew that Mother's first birthday after she was gone would be hard. The fact that it was a "real" birthday would make it harder. But that snowstorm, that snow day, on that Feb.29, made it impossible for me to feel sadness. Of course I still missed her and wished she was still alive. I wished I could call her and wish her a happy birthday and tell her that I loved her. But some how, all I could do that day was think of Mother and smile. Leap Day only comes once every four years. Snow days here generally come even less frequently. Yet those two things happened on the same day. Maybe Mother really did whisper in God's ear and convinced him to give my kids a snow day. That thought stayed with me the entire day and made that "first" a little easier for me to deal with.



Whether or not things like that actually happen in Heaven, I don't know. But I know how much Mother loved her family. I know that God loves us that much too. They'd both knew I would be home alone that entire day if the kids were in school. They both knew me well enough to know I would have had a difficult day as I remembered and missed her. So I can just imagine Mother and God coming up with the idea of a snow day for my kids on that day. That way I wouldn't be alone and the "magic" of the snow day on her birthday would make me smile. The thought of it still makes me smile. And I know that on every Feb. 29, I will re-tell the story of that snow day. Well planned God and Mother....well planned!