Yikes

 I know you have heard this story a hundred times but my brother, sister and myself walked to school 1 1/2 miles each way. Nan had three children under 5 at home and no car. All three of us went to Catholic elementary school. This was in the northeastern United States. It was cold in the winter. How long does it take a 8 year old to walk 1 1/2 miles? We never cared because along the way other kids would join us and we would carry on the entire way. Throwing snowballs, running along train tracks when the bars were coming down with the lights flashing we always had fun. Running is not a problem when you are 9,8,7 years old respectively.  My brother did not want to walk with his sisters so he would always be blocks ahead. If we were catching up he would just pick up the pace.

We never carried umbrellas, but Nan would make us wear goulashes so we would not get our only pair of school shoes wet. We had a rain coat, Barbie lunch pail, my brother had Hop-Along-Cassidy lunch pail, and our book bag. There were no back packs in those days. It was October 1954 and it was going to rain. Whatever Nan said it was a LAW. You just believed it. Everything she said was true. On this particular day it was a very dark sky in the morning on the way to school. At recess time there were large drops of rain hitting the open windows in the classroom. Just another rainy day.

At lunchtime there was a strange bell and we all went back to our classroom. We were being sent home because a storm was coming. SO WHAT! Walking in the rain is still one of my favorite things to do. I love jumping in puddles, splashing people around me, feeling the drops on my face with the tongue sticking out. The school emptied in minutes, we started walking home. After 20 steps we were soaking wet because the rain was coming sideways, the wind was blowing our raincoats open. We just kept walking.

We did not listen to television because it was only on when my father was home. We played with Lincoln Logs, a deck of cards, or bang pots and pans if Nan was at the store. We had no idea we were walking with  Hurricane Hazel. It might have taken us a little longer to walk home that day because the wind was blowing us backward every time we took a step. Nan was frantic when she was us walking down the alley and through the back gate. The rain was so hard she even took the dog onto the back porch. She now had 6 kids, a dog, no car, and the basement was starting to fill with water. All the houses came with a basement because where else would you put the washer and dryer. When Nan was upstairs with the babies we decided to head to the basement and see everything floating on the rising water. There were 16 steps from the kitchen to the basement and the water was at step 10. We decided to jump off the basement steps into the water to get our toys. We did not scream for help, we had no idea where the steps were because the electricity was out. It was pitch dark. The three of us found each other and made it back to the steps following a sliver of light coming from the kitchen window above the top of the steps.

We were full of shit because the sewers had backed up into the house. We were more work than the babies in her arms. What a mess. We were all safe and sound and grounded.

Rain Rain Go Away!