WEATHERING THE STORMS

As a kid, I remember hearing that "into every life some
rain must fall" and this week we finally got our share,
except it was snow and ice instead of rain.
Last week brought a foot of snow and water systems

freezing and bursting. As they say,
into every life some rain must fall.
Sooner or later, we all experience our share of winter storms.
But eventually, we all go through tough times. For us, the
weather has warmed, the contractors have been here, and
things will soon be back to normal. But some people
experience a disaster and things never return to "normal"
and to those people our hearts go out.
Fortunately, however, most of the tragedies of life are
more like the tree through roof - frightening,
annoying, disconcerting, and inconvenient, but not life-
threatening. And it is these small disasters that we must
be prepared to handle.
Whether your disaster is caused by the weather, a business
reversal, a personal betrayal, illness or injury, sooner or
later, pain comes to us all and we must cope with it.
Compared to our ancestors, our world is incredibly safe.
There are no tigers hunting us at night. Medicine has come
a long way, our life expectancy is up, and for all the
stories of accidents and war, we go through our days
feeling pretty safe, and too often we become complacent.
My grandmother knew she might not always be able to get to
the grocery market, and I remember her "putting by"

fruits and vegetables. Her pantry was
filled with them! We are the first generation that doesn't
worry about saving for a rainy day, and doesn't routinely
worry about fire or illness. As a boy, I remember the fear
in the neighborhood over polio - a disease that is
virtually wiped off the earth.
This past week has reminded us that we dare not be
complacent. Life is still a short and sometimes dangerous
thing. Here are a couple of ideas that seemed important
this week:
1. Life is short. Tell people that you love them. Hug
them. Laugh with them. Make the phone calls, send the
notes. Leave nothing unsaid. Life is too short.
2. Keep a wide margin around your life. Maintain a
schedule that allows for a snow delay or a bit of trouble.
Flat tires and dead batteries still happen. We were
fortunate that the storm hit over when work
was light. Keep plenty of margin.
3. Keep flashlight batteries around. We had an extra loaf
of bread in the freezer and I had recently gone grocery
shopping so we were fine, but some of our neighbors were
not so lucky. Walking on a freezing morning, I gave my
gloves to a woman whose car was stuck and she was cold.
The old Boy Scout motto is still a good idea: Be prepared.

Sooner or later, your storm will hit and when it does you
want to weather it with confidence and courage. Yes, it is
inconvenient. I wish our roof was fixed, but in the grand
scheme of things, we are very, very lucky. When storms
hit, you want to survive and thrive on the excitement of
mother nature showing off her power, not get knocked off
your game. Be prepared to weather life's storms.