Snow Day

It is not uncommon for Iowa to have received our first snow by this time of the year. The annual occurrence came this past Friday. However, it wasn't the usual light snowfall that may just accumulate in the grass. No, this was a real abrupt welcome to winter.

Some parts of Iowa received 14" of snow, with a few locations only getting a dusting. We were in the 5"-7" range of accumulation. That's a good amount for the first snow of the season, but not anything extreme. The most challenging part of this storm was the roads.

Early Thursday morning, my parents left for Minneapolis for my dad's work. They had planned to watch trains afterword and get back home sometime on Saturday. With the weather predictions though, they started back from Wisconsin in early afternoon.

At first the snow wasn't bad and stopped a few times. Unfortunately, the closer to home they came, the worse road conditions became. Finally, about 19 miles from home, they couldn't progress any further and stopped for the night at my grandmother's house. My caregiver and I assured them we were fine and the night nurse would make it.

However, less than two hours later, my night assistant called that the main roads hadn't been treated and she couldn't make it. Therefore, it was down to just the current helper and I. Earlier in the day, my primary day assistant and I had talked about possible plans in case everyone was snowed in. Since she lives only a few blocks away, she was able to make it to my house to help.

Throughout the night then, my two caregivers switched off letting one rest while the other was responsible for me. This is the first time I have been at home with a nurse unable to come due to weather and my parents gone. I'm very thankful it worked out and that I've been given caring people that are willing to do whatever is needed.

Unexpected times in the quad life can require thinking of new solutions. I can see God had everything ready to easily work out and I just needed to follow His plan. Hopefully this is the only time for a major storm, but it's unlikely. When the next one comes though, I know it has already been planned.