It was a normal Friday on February 12 at school, looking toward the weekend and Valentine’s Day. After school had begun, the kids started noticing something strange outside. The temperature was dropping and there were snowflakes floating in the air. I am not sure if anyone paid much attention to what the teachers were discussing that day. By the end of the school day, it had got much colder. It was still snowing and the sidewalks and the parking lot were getting slippery with cars covered with snow. Most of the kids had grown up in Houston, so it was a big deal to see so much snow, especially in mid-February.
Several of the kids had older cars and had dead batteries or were too weak to start the cold motors. Most of them had standard transmissions, so you could push the cars a short distance and then kick it in gear to start the motor. My car started ok but I stayed and helped other classmates get their cars started. Truth is, it was just fun helping others and watching them try to drive on the slippery surface – none of us had experience with that. There were some teachers that also needed help and other teachers standing in the lot and laughing at the sight of all of the kids helping each other.
On the way home, I came upon a car off in the ditch and it could not get any traction to back out. I helped that person and went home. My Dad was home that day due to an injury he had got at work earlier in the week. He was very concerned by the time I got home because of the time and the weather. I think he was glad that I got home safe, but he wanted me to know that I had caused him a lot of concern. As I was telling him about everything at school and on the way home, I think he wanted to laugh, but he was trying to keep a frown on his face.
Houston got 4.4 inches of snow and it was on the news and in the newspapers as a big deal. The 4.4 inches were the highest amount of snow in Houston since the record-setting storm of 1895, which dumped a whopping 20 inches of snow in Houston on Valentine’s Day. Areas north of Houston got even more snow than Houston.
I remember that I had a date planned for Valentine’s Day and I was concerned that my Dad would not let me go out if the snow kept falling. I had mixed emotions, I wanted more snow but I also wanted to go on that date. It snowed into the night and snow covered the yards the next day enough to make snowmen and snowball fights. However, by Saturday night, the streets were clear enough that I got to go on that date. On Monday, there were many discussions at school about the weekend and fun in the snow.
Just another memory from the “Good Ole Days” when we were young.
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