Monday Night- Jan. 27th, 2014
Peter and I discussed the weather. We both love analyzing the weather and pay close attention to the forecasts. Ok, maybe I love it more, but the point is we were following the weather. The forecast, as we understood it, was for snow south of the city with a few flakes in the city and north by our house after lunch. I told Peter that my plan was to drop Amelia off at school in the city (Buckhead area) at 8am and then go back to Woodstock for groceries. I would then go back to her school by 12 so that I would be close to her if the "snowflakes" started coming early. Something else sticks out in my mind about that night. Colin was starting to get all excited about the chance of snow. I specifically remember looking at him and saying, "we only get snow when we are not expecting it, so don't get excited about it and then maybe we will actually get some." (When I finally got to him Tuesday night he reminded me of that statement I said to him.)
Tuesday Morning-Jan. 28th, 2014
6:30am-My phone goes off and I was asked to substitute teach at Amelia's school that morning. I was happy, because now I was going to be with Amelia for the day in case anything happened. We turned on the weather briefly and saw that the track now had snow coming directly for the city and northern suburbs, but in the hourly maps it looked like it would start around noon and be a light dusting.
(Based on text messages. I figured you can see time wise how fast things turned bad. )
10am- Text-Peter to me-snow falling in Cobb County already (north of the city)
10:50am-Cherokee County Schools will dismiss early. Colin & Kendall would be loaded on bus by noon. Text-Kara to me- finally snowing in Woodstock
11am-The first snowflakes started to fall at the Atlanta Speech School. I asked my friend Kara to get my oldest 2 kids off bus since I was in the city. I thought that I would finish helping get Hamm kids lunch (including Amelia) before leaving school. All schools started announcing early dismissal. The usual excitement filled the air about getting out of school. Teachers started balancing leaving for their kids and staying with their class.
12pm-Amelia & I ran out to our car. The snow was beautiful and coming down so fast now! I remember pausing to look at Amelia's friend, Khloe, dancing beside her car in the snow. Text-me to Kara-I should be home 12:45.
12:15pm-The snow was coming down so hard on 75 N that it looked like white snakes whipping along the road, but traffic was moving great! Text-Amanda to me-The kids bus might be late because of car accident on 92. First little anxiety set in...I hope my kids do not have to be on bus long.
12:27pm-Text-me to Laura(another speech mom)- Get off 75!!
12:33-Text-me to Kara-keep me updated on the kids. this is crazy. I got off exit 263. 75 is stand still and everywhere around me everything shutting down.
1:04-Kara finally gets my 2 kids off the bus and I am glad they are safe!! I had taken the 120 loop and had ran into slower traffic, but I thought I was doing great by getting off 75 and doing back roads. I was getting hungry because I had not eaten. I pulled through an Arby's. I had to yell out my order and then quickly roll up my window because it was snowing so hard. I got back on the road and stopped at a red light. I thought I was stopped until a horrible grinding noise came from my wheels and I started sliding. Of course I went for the brakes and turned the wheel. It's just a natural reaction. When I stopped I could put just my hand between the other car and me. The light turned green and I got myself repositioned and onto the next road I turned. I am not sure exactly what time my husband called, but somewhere along this time frame I talked to him and he said that most likely he would have to spend the night in the school with his kids. He is principal at Palmer Middle School. I processed that and accepted it...Ok, it's the kids & I.
2:12pm-Text me to Jenny (sister-in-law)-we are stuck. no one is moving. I am up by the Publix on Shallowford...was just near Lassiter High.
2:13pm- (This was my moment of determination)-Text-Jenny to me-boys are walking home. you might need to walk to my house. At this point, I had stopped at gas station to fill up my tank. I knew that I was going to need lots of gas and we went to the bathroom. When I learned that my nephews, whom were close by my area, had abandoned their cars, 2 things popped into my mind. I didn't think that it was wise to walk in the cold at that point with Amelia. I also knew my husband would not make it home so I really wanted to make it to my other children.
2:24pm-Text from me to family-more wrecks in the ditch. I'm going to turn around and just try to go......somewhere. You can tell that when I said "somewhere" I really was feeling overwhelmed. Everywhere I looked was a mess. People that had started walking were stopping at my window telling me of the piles of cars ahead of me. I saw 2 cars that had gone off the road and had all windows blown out. The vehicles sat abandoned and I knew that if no help came for them then no help was coming for me. At this point my phone battery is getting low. My car charger was not charging my phone. I started a group text to my family.
2:53pm- (this was the moment I realized I might not make it home that night.)-Text-me to kara- If I'm not home by 5 can you get Jasper(dog)? I turned my phone off for that hour to save battery. My thoughts turned to surviving in the car. I became a little delirious from sitting in the same place for so long. We were on Trickum, which is a back road, and with the snow covering everything and ice all on my wipers, I started losing track of where exactly I was on that road. I did not think I could walk with Amelia that far. I looked at the clock and started begging it to slow down. I knew that when darkness came the level of anxiety would rise. The little things started to mean so much. Amelia's eyes lit up when I let her have a some of my coke. That's a treat for her to have soft drinks. It's the only drink I had in the car. I dug through my purse and found colored pens and a paper from Amelia's bookbag. She started coloring. Amelia was so calm. She never asked to go to the bathroom, or eat, or to get out of the car. I would roll down her window and let her eat the ice off the window and catch the snowflakes.
3:54pm-Text- me to family-I just turned my phone back on. my battery is going. There's a bunch of us that are stuck on Trickum Road. We can't get out either way. A walker said there's a fire truck arriving on one side, but can somebody call fire & tell them a bunch of us are stuck?
3:57pm-Text -me to my mother-in-law-Sue- stuck on trickum. block on both sides. we can't get out.
4:35pm-Text from Kara to me- Just spoke to fire dept & they said they have a truck in the area.
I did not want to call fire, because I was afraid they would put me on hold and drain my battery, so I asked family to do it. In the time that I had turned my phone off ,we had gone over a hill where the drivers on the opposite side where being pushed up the hill. Guys were taking floor mats and putting them under the tires to get traction. At this point I knew that I could not turn around so I must keep inching forward. After a while, I could see down to the bottom of another hill. I was approaching. Cars where all jumbled up and turned every which way. A guy walking by me said, hey why don't you try Kemp Road ( a side neighborhood rd?) After looking at the bottom of the hill, my choices were to start walking and abandon the car or try this side road. There was about 4 of us cars that followed each other down Kemp Rd. A BMW led the way and I should have known right then to give him lots of space with those tires. We made it to the top of the first hill. A group of teenagers were helping cars up the hill in the opposite direction. We got to the second hill and the BMW tires started spinning on the incline. I was the 2nd car in line so I rolled down my window and started yelling everybody back up he's sliding. We all started backing up and then his car gave way, turned sideways and came rushing down the hill. I knew the impact would hurt worse so I hit reverse and drove off the road backwards. The guy went off the other side. He was stuck. I now was stuck. He knocked on the neighbors door and no one was home. He helped me get my car out. As soon as I was pushed to the middle of the road we started spinning 360 down the rest of the hill. I looked back at Amelia and this was the only time she seemed nervous. She was a champ. She was being my hero. At this point, I got mad! I am gonna make it home. I got my car realigned for the hill and I gunned it. I sped over the hill!! yeh!! I approached a stop sign and stopped. A car with a pizza hut sign on it came sliding through the intersection, fish tailed, and threw his backend into the front of my car. It was a tiny bump....thank God. Neither of us even got out to look. At this point, I was throwing all rules out window. The next several stop signs I did not even stop. I was afraid I would get stuck. Today was not the day I was going to freeze beside the road. haha
5:30ish-Got Home! Walked down street to get my other kids!! Then I started checking all my social media & getting calls of so many that were still out there. Half of our neighborhood friends did not even make it home til late night or the next day. One of Peter's brothers walked from 92 Moe's to Townelake Parkway. His son's school bus got stranded. Another brother was stuck in traffic til the wee hours of the morning and then still had to abandon his car and walk. Peter hunkered down with his middle school kids and arrived home at 2pm the next day. A cousin spent the night in a gas station and did not make it home til Wed. night. A guy with a briefcase, suit & tie walked by my house at noon on Wednesday. He looked at us and just said, " I walked from Dunwoody!!" The stories go on and on and on. Amelia and I were not stuck as long as many and we are very thankful. So many good stories of southern hospitality and heroes. I just wanted everyone to know that Amelia was my hero that day. Peter told me yesterday, I could hear your voice cracking on the phone and you cried. You rarely cry. I told him, I know. I was frustrated, overwhelmed, scared, but Amelia did not cry. She sat in her car seat & smiled. She politely asked for more sips of coke. She never asked to go to bathroom, or get out. So many times I looked back and saw her just coloring away. I said to myself, if she can keep it together then you can. Amelia is my hero!
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