Snow 2003

Snow was predicted. All the local channels said it was coming. Mike had to go to a meeting in Kentucky. He said his truck wouldn't be good to drive in snow, so he was going to take my car, because if the snow came, school would be canceled and I wouldn't have to drive. I hated driving that truck, because it was so big and I wasn't used to it. Much preferred the Camry, but I drove the truck to work, 20 miles away.

School had not even started when the snow came. I remember standing out front directing traffic in the snow before school started. It kept snowing, and pretty soon we knew we were in trouble. We got the word that school was closing at 10, and school buses started showing up, but before we could even start loading students on the buses, the drivers got a call saying not to load. The roads were too dangerous for the buses, so they had to leave, and the students were still at school.

A lot of parents came to get their children, but many couldn't get there. Phone lines were jammed, parents were at work in Nashville or Murfreesboro, and road conditions were terrible. Interstates shut down because of so many wrecks, and salt trucks couldn't even get through the traffic jams.

School was officially closed, so cafeteria workers had gone home and no lunches were being prepared. Finally some of us went to the cafeteria and found bread, peanut butter and jelly, and started making sandwiches. We fed the students who were still there, while teachers continued to try and reach parents.

Around 3 pm, we still had students at school. The principal asked the teachers who lived closest to the school to stay, so those of us who lived farther away could get home before dark. About 10 of us had to drive to Murfreesboro. We made a list of everyone's name, car make and model and license plate number, and cell phone number. Then we left, with Nancy leading the way in a Mazda Miata not much higher than the snow. I was driving that big blue Ford truck with white knuckles all the way but we all made it safely home.

The next day, Mike drove the Camry home from Kentucky, a trip that took far longer than anticipated, due to the road conditions. He heard the whole story, my irritation at having to go to school in the first place when everyone was predicting snow, anger that I had to drive the truck that he didn't trust to drive in the snow, and the frustration of being stranded at school with students, no buses, no meals, and no way to reach parents. Two years later, Mike became the Transportation Director for the school system. Now, when snow is predicted, all that goes through his mind. I don't even have to say a word...