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Going Home For Christmas
Snow storms and it's a small world; here's one for you. The
Christmas of 1965, we were on our way home from New Mexico for the holidays. Out
in the middle of nowhere (somewhere in Nebraska) we ran into one heckofa
blizzard and that was before we ever heard about stopping at a motel overnight,
so we were South Dakota-bound one way or the other.
We came upon a "road closed" sign somewhere: around Scottsbluff so
we had no alternative but to turn back and find another way through. We
drove until we came to a highway that hadn't been closed yet and headed east
again, now going towards Hernrningford. We have 20-foot visibility, but by golly
... we're still going home!
Out there somewhere we saw a car in the ditch. Ed, being the good
guy he is, said we had to stop to help. Me, on the other hand, did not want him
to stop or all of us would end up out there frozen to death ... we can send help
back. Maybe we didn't really have to stop because we were just barely moving as
it were.
Suddenly, in front of us stood a man wearing a baby diaper (when
they were still cloth) on his head to save his ears; waving his arms like
someone who had been stranded in a snow storm for hours. He carne running up
to the car window to ask if his wife and baby could get in for awhile to warm
up. Before Ed could even answer, the woman, with her baby in her arms, was
climbing in the back seat, right over top of our unsuspecting sleeping fam-
ily. The whole car came alive with terrified, screaming (happy little
going-home-to-see-Grandma and Grandpa,) bawling angels!
It was around 5:30 in the morning; they had been there since 9:30
the night before after their car got hot and the water boiled out, killing the
engine. They had kept their baby as warm as they could by wrapping it around
their
clothes in their suitcase.
We loaded them up in our car and took off, again at a snail's pace.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, there was a car corning toward us. Believing the road
was closing up behind us, we flagged the car down. There, behind the wheel
was somebody's precious great-grandmother with Great-grandfather seated beside
her! They were on their way from Sioux City to see their son who owned a
hardware store in Scottsbluff. The man in the back seat worked for
their son in that hardware store and they were on their way to Sioux City!
We tried our darndest to get them to turn around and follow us, but
Grandma Too Brave For Her Own Good was bound and determined they would make it.
More guts than me!
Since that was a fairly heartwarming story, I guess I shouldn't
"mess it up" by telling you about the year we were corning home for Christmas,
again from New Mexico, and we picked up a young hitch-hiker on leave from his du-
ties with the US Army. He enjoyed playing with the baby so much, he bounced and
jostled him until the poor kid threw up allover our "happy to have caught a
ride" soldier. I'm trying to remember if he thanked us for the ride!
We went on to Hemmingford; dropped the little family off at a motel
and went on our way. No, we didn't get a motel room; we never even considered it
we were going home for Christmas! We did, however, watch the television to make
sure the old couple didn't make the evening news. And we (all of us) made it
home for Christmas and lived happily ever after.
The end
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