The winter of 1993-94 was...
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The winter of 1993-94 was as severe a winter as we had known; winter storm after winter storm piled the snow up against the windows and doors, the streets and the sidewalks. Snow storms were often followed by ice storms. Great sheets of ice came down and covered the snow, making the streets slick and dangerous. The emergency rooms of hospitals were filled with people who had slipped on the ice, sprained this ankle, broken that wrist. An older neighbor of ours, who lives alone, was one of the people who suffered such a slip. She fell and broke her hip, was hospitalized for weeks, moved to a physical rehabilitation center, then around to friends' homes which were on one level. Her home is on two floors. But finally, finally, she returned home. With the help of a graduate student, an elevated chair and a lot of strength, she returned to the neighborhood, and one fine spring evening she returned to our front porch. The rhododendron's purple and pink flowers reached toward the hanging baskets filled with pansies, and as we toasted the spring evening and one another, and as we tasted the gin, we knew at least in part the experience of the Israelites as they ate the crops of the land once again. The place is called Gilgal, for the Lord had rolled away the winter of harm. -- Steffey Morrow
