The Down Side of Thanksgiving

As a kid, I always loved thanksgiving. We were always at home, my Dad was at home and not traveling and I love turkey, and stuffing. As I aged and the family got bigger, Thanksgiving changed and now usually involves a trek to my sister's house in Boston. I have always liked going there and love our large extended family; we all seem to get along. There is always little angst (except for the hosts and chefs). I still love the holiday, but getting there , well that's another story.

1970's

After a wonderful weekend, we headed back to Pittsburgh from Framingham at about 10 AM. My sister had packed us some food for the car and we proceeded west. It started to snow when we reached Western Mass, not to heavy at first but as we head south on the New York Thruway, it started to snow heavy. My wife was driving, but she started to get a Migraine so I took over. It actually started to let up and we thought we were OK, but as we turned south on 81 at Scranton, it really started to snow. When we hit the PA Turnpike, it was snowing so hard it made the previous snow feel like a flurry.

My wife began to feel better, but we were hungry and tired. By the time we reached Somerset, we stopped for food and we thought, maybe a hotel. In the McDonalds, they were talking about putting people up at the "Church". We looked at each other, ate our burgers and got back in the car. After driving for an hour or so (maybe 20 miles) we found ourselves stopped on the side of a mountain.

We had a green Datsun and the guy next to me honked and I rolled down my window and he asked how I liked my Datsun (he had one too). He had a great new device (a CB Radio) and told us that two trucks were jackknifed and they were going to move one and open up the left lane. It was still snowing and the lightning (yes lightning) and was very bright because of the all the snow. The other Datsun honked and he motioned me to pull in front of him. We had no snow tires, so after I passed all the trucks, I moved to the right lane. (My wife looked out the side window to tell me where the road ended). The other Datsun passed us and then a small sports car and two other cars. After that, nothing passed. We saw the sports car off the road maybe a mile later, we couldn't stop...we would never get going again.

We found out the next day, they closed the Turnpike at 9 PM.

The roads got better as we got near Pittsburgh, we both began to breathe normally and 20 hours after leaving Boston, we got home. The next day I bought a CB.
1980's

We left Dallas on Wednesday at Noon. Our flight to LaGuardia was crowded, we were a half hour late and I was worried we would miss the Pan Am Shuttle to Boston. If we only knew. When we got to the shuttle terminal we found out it would be late, so I called my sister in Wayland and told her. Not to worry she said, they weren't going anywhere. It was around 4 PM and after waiting for a couple of hours they decided to board the Airbus. Big plane, uncomfortable seats. My daughter was just two but what a trooper. We sat on the plane waiting for the bad weather in Boston to clear, Logan was actually closed. Imagine that, Bad weather in Boston, what a shocker.

I tried to get a pillow for my daughter, but was told in a patronizing way that "there are no pillows on the Airbus" I then asked the flight attendant if they planned to feed the hostages and she was told to go back to my seat and shut up. About 10 PM, they pulled back to the gate to get food and a movie for the hostages. We asked to get off, but they wouldn't let us. Some passengers got really ugly about it.

After feeding the hostages, people calmed down. They gave us all free drinks and put on the movie (Ruthless People). All the hostages laughed at the title, but I didn't mind, it was better then carving a mark for each hour on the back of the food tray.

We finally got to Logan about 2 AM and to Wayland about 3:30 AM. I didn't mind though, my sister made a big turkey to celebrate our freedom.

Present Day

After moving back east, things got easier. Sure, the 4 hour drive takes 6 and half, but that is nothing compared to past events. Of course there is the time my sister was nearly killed on the Hutchinson River Parkway, but that is her story.

In any case, here comes another Thanksgiving and I do give thanks that I have a great family to go to, but I PRAY for good weather.