The "No Snow Day"

ORIGINAL POST DATE 1/9/09

In advance of the story I am about to tell, I would like to say that it is much more than mere coincidence that I recently played a minor role in a play performed at our church entitled "The Snowman". It was written by one of our very talented associate pastors, and the plot involved a character of fantasy named Bernie Graupel, whose life's occupation it was to carefully and diligently craft each and every unique snowflake for every winter storm across the globe. In the play, Bernie is frustrated by the fact that no matter his attempts, no one ever seems to be satisfied with the amount of, quality of, or timing of the snow he works so hard to provide. Bernie comes to a point of wanting to quit making snowflakes altogether, until he eventually realizes the true importance of what he does, and that it is not about the snow itself, but the HOPE of snow, that makes his job so very wonderful. That having been said, this is a glimpse into a recent chapter of the story of my little family here in the South...


Andy Warhol once said that everyone is famous for about fifteen minutes once in their life. This past week, fame found its way to our wonderful six year old daughter Rebekah in an amusing way.

Starting back last weekend, the local weather forecasters began to predict some pretty significant snowfall for our area on Tuesday. They had all of the computer models, technical readings, and doppler images to back up their claim, and told us to prepare for a nice, pretty snowfall between Monday night and Tuesday afternoon. The forecast was only for 1-3 inches, but for our immediate area, this is fairly significant, and about average whenever we actually do have snow.

The mountains just North and West of us get snow continually throughout the winter season, but when the snow comes strictly from their area in our direction, it is often blocked by these mountains, and we don't get it. The ideal scenario is when a mass of cold air and moisture collide, coming up and around from the Southwest toward the East. This is the situation that was brewing as of early Monday morning, and again, the forecasters told us to prepare for a lovely snowfall.

So, Monday afternoon began to cloud up significantly. The temperature dropped. The clouds thickened. The air had that "just right" cold, moist feel that precedes a Southern snowfall. After I had seen my patients for the day, the kids and I, true to Southern tradition, visited the local grocery store and stocked up on some food items we were out of, and some special snacks, etc., all in preparation for the snow. Around here, 3 inches of snow can paralyze us travel-wise, especially if there is any ice on the roads associated with it, so it is wise to purchase any necessities the day before the predicted event, even if there is little threat of power outages.

We all had arrived home by 5:00pm or so, prepared to tuck the kids into bed, and awaken sometime during the night and see snow falling softly outside. At around 3:30am, I awoke momentarily and began to do my nightly check on our sleeping kids. As I did, I looked out the front window, and saw that it had not yet started snowing. I was puzzled. The wind was also blowing, which is not typical when snow falls in this area. Normally the air is very still.

I turned on the Weather Cnhannel and looked at the local forecast, and the accompanying doppler images. Although it took me until much later that morning to fully accept what was happening, I could clearly see by the doppler map that the snowstorm was not as solid a mass as they had predicted, and its sketchy outline, paired with the windy conditions, had sent it on this crazy path that caused it to fall Northwest of us in the mountains, and East and Southeast of us, but it MISSED US COMPLETELY!!! In the map image, it was as if we were in this little "pocket" of dry air that was completely surrounded by snow, but none was falling on us!

Now, our three year old, Charity was excited about the prospect of snow, but she is a resilient little kid who doesn't take things very seriously most of the time, and it wasn't likely to bother her at all that the snow had missed us, given her young age and lack of understanding.

Rebekah, however, was a different matter. Rebekah dreams about snow all winter long. Every winter she asks us repeatedly if it will snow, if it might snow, if we can take a drive North and see some snow if there isn't going to be any snow. She draws snow scenes on paper. She daydreams aloud of how she is going to put on her boots and winter gear and construct wonderful, elaborate snowmen and decorate them with carrot noses and button eyes. Rebekah is a snow lover!

Given this fact, and knowing how much Rebekah was looking forward to seeing the snow on Tuesday morning, we were very reluctant to awaken her and have her discover that the snow had missed us. We put off turning on her bedroom light until the last possible minute, but eventually had no choice. This was, after all, still a regular work and school day now, since the snow had not come as expected. The morning routine still had to be performed, and everyone would be expected to arrive at their usual places at the usual times.

Usually, Rebekah is slow to awaken, but this morning, of course, she bounded out of bed, and began immediately heading for the window to see outside. Before she made it, I gently put my hand on her shoulder, and gave her the bad news. I didn't try to sugar coat it. I was very matter of fact and precise, albeit gentle, but I gave her the facts, and I explained that there was nothing we could do about it, and now we must move on and get ready for the school and work day ahead.

Rebekah cried. She cried, then she cried more loudly. Then she hid her face in the covers and cried softly. She continued to cry as we had to dress her, because she wouldn't dress herself. She cried all the way from her room, and sat down at the breakfast table and cried. No matter what we said to comfort her, it was no use. She was inconsolable.

Then my husband had a brilliant idea. "What if we let you write a letter to the weatherman to tell him how you feel?" he asked her. Her crying softened. "Maybe you can tell him how upset you are that he predicted snow and now there is none.", he said. Her crying stopped. Her face perked up. She smiled a little, and nodded her head. Eventually, she became very excited about the idea, and pestered my husband endlessly throughout his breakfast until he was through.

And so, Daddy sat at the computer keyboard and Rebekah sat beside him. He found the e-mail address for the morning meteorologist on the local news channel we watch early in the day, and typed a letter to him while Rebekah dictaded. The following is her letter, quoted word for word, exactly as it was sent. (The name of the weatherman has been altered to protect the innocent.)

"Dear Mr. G------,
My name is Rebekah -----, and I am almost 7 years old. I go to A-------- Elementary School.

I don't know why you said that it was going to snow. And you hyped it up too far Dude.

I woke up to no snow. I wanted to stay home from school. And when I discovered there was no snow I cried. I think that you need to do the weather right. You are too bad for Santa. You will not get any presents from Santa if you be bad.

Sincerely yours,
Rebekah"

After the letter was written and sent, Rebekah had a satisfied smile on her face for the rest of the morning. After school that day, she pressed my husband until he checked his e-mail to see if Mr. G had replied.

To everyone's dismay, the letter had bounced back to my husband, stating some unspecified address error. Rebekah was disappointed, but at this point decided that she had gotten her sorrow off of her chest, and that was enough to satisfy her.

The next morning was Wednesday, a bit warmer, with no exciting weather prospects ahead. The morning routine was begun, and the kids were jostled out of their beds and dressed in the usual fashion before we all sat down to breakfast together. As we were finishing getting dressed, my husband stood in the living room watching the aforementioned local news channel, as he does every morning, trying to catch the weather and some of the latest headlines. All of a sudden, he called us into the living room with a loud "Hurry! They're reading Rebekah's letter on TV!"

We rushed into the living room, and sure enough, Mr. G was sitting alongside the two morning news anchors, holding a paper copy of the e-mail he had received from our daughter the day before. He read the copy out loud, pausing at intervals to chuckle and laugh at my daughter's commentary. When he arrived at the point about being "too bad for Santa", the gentleman anchor who was sitting beside his female counterpart interjected, "Too bad for Santa? Why, that's about the WORST thing a six year old can say to you!" The response was great laughter among the three of them as Mr. G finished reading the letter.

Afterward, Mr. G quietly explained to Rebekah, should she be listening, that although his job was very scientific, it was still full of variables, and sometimes he just plain got it wrong. He then followed by giving Rebekah a personal apology over the air. The female anchor also apologized to Rebekah on behalf of all of them, and looked straight into the camera while doing so. She asked Rebekah if she would forgive them.

As the moment sank in, Rebekah was glowing with pride and joy. She stated to her father and me that indeed, she had accepted their on-air apology, and that she forgave them wholeheartedly for disappointing her. My husband sent another e-mail to Mr. G that very morning, thanking him for his kindness, and extending Rebekah's forgiveness on her behalf.

The following two days have been very amusing since this event. It seems every faculty member at Rebekah's school watches this particular news channel in the morning, because for the last two days all of them who encounter Rebekah at school have mentioned it, calling her "famous", and "a celebrity". Rebekah has been pleased, but also mildly embarassed by all of the attention.

This one incident of many in the lives of our busy little family illustrates so much more to me than the obvious and amusing "fifteen minutes of fame" it brought to my daughter. It is an object lesson on several levels. First, one of the facts of life is that disappointments happen, great and small. They are unavoidable. The earlier we teach our children how to deal with disappointment, and how to channel the negative feelings it can create and use them for something positive, the better. Our children need to know that life will not always go the way they expect, but that even great disappointment can bring joy in a wholly different way.

Secondly, we are teaching our children the art of expressing themselves in appropriate ways. While crying and stamping our feet can make us feel better, it does not help those around us who have to endure our fussy attitude. There are many ways that children can express their anger or frustration that will be peaceful and productive for parent and child alike.

Thirdly, and most importantly, the "no snow day" as I like to call it now, taught us to be prepared for the unexpected, and when it comes, to be ready to show our children how much we love them and respect their feelings of hurt and disappointment, without belittling them or putting them down. What may seem small and insignificant to us can be of immense proportions to a child. Rebekah is a particularly sensitive child, but she is creative and intelligent as well. By recognizing her God-given traits in all of these areas, we were able to let her work out her own problem, and as a result she received the bonus of an extra blessing of attention and praise from other adults she sees as role models! God is truly good in the way He comforts and lifts us up!

So, to all of you in the Northern areas of the country who are buried many feet deep in snow drifts, hearing the latest forecast calling for even more of the white stuff, and groaning inwardly at the thought of shoveling the driveway yet again; remember us, and treat us a little more kindly. We are the poor Southerners who long for, beg for, pray for snow, but it never comes. Yes, we know it's silly to run out and buy a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread every time we think there's a flake in the sky, but like my Rebekah, we are just responding to the hope of something exciting on the horizon, something different and special.

LET IT SNOW!!!