"February Fury" aftermath

What do you do when you're stuck in a blizzard with your family? Well, for one, you play Scrabble:

---

Or, you might be inclined to play cards

---

However, one thing you're likely to do in our family is drink

---

In fact, if the circumstances warrant, you might drink a lot

---

You might even try to be sure that you don't run out of things to drink (it helps to have lots of snow for the bathtub)

---

However, the storm ends eventually, and you dig yourself out

---

You take a look around

---

You even appreciate the beauty left in the aftermath of the storm

---

This week's been an interesting time for me. I've spent more time in the company of my immediate family than probably any time since I left Ohio. Because my aunt Helen passed away, I've been in the company of a large number of relatives I don't normally see. Below are my cousins Julie, Steve, Charlie & Susie Metzger; I spent some time working at their farm when I was young...

---

Finally, here's a picture of the family at Helen's post-service dinner. Only Kathi, myself, Lori, Valerie & Elaine made it out of our family; Dick (Lori's husband) and Jack (Elaine's son) were there as well. And, of course, mom & Harry, who is her constant companion and source of strength, for which I am grateful.

---

I'll be travelling home tomorrow, after a full week in Delphos (my longest visit in 30 years). It's been an interesting week, for sure, and I've been reminded of the deep bond that exists in family, even among cousins (at least my cousins).

I'd like to put a little bit more here, but it's late and I need to get up early tomorrow for the drive to the airport (2 to 3 hours, depending on weather -- snow is predicted). Y'all take care, and think extra hard about your families tonight.

Helen Marie Rode, 1926-2007

My mom's sister Helen passed away on Saturday February 10th at 8:50 PM. She leaves behind 3 sisters, 9 kids, 21 grandchildren, 21 great-grandchildren, two stepgrandchildren, seven stepgreat-grandchildren, four stepgreat-great-grandchildren, and dozens of nieces and nephews. She worked hard her entire life to provide a home for her kids and their families -- Sunday dinner at the Rode house was always a big and noisy affair, and on any given day she had grandkids (or great grandkids) playing in the room she kept for them. Her kids (and grandkids) have always taken care of my mother without even being asked -- keeping her grass mowed, her snow shoveled, running errands, fixing things around the house. My gratitude to them is enormous.

Helen was a fiesty lady, make no mistake. She was hard to fool and was always quick with a comeback. On her deathbed her children asked if it was okay to have Reverend Wayne Prater pray for her (at her service) -- her reply was "I know how to pray." When Kathi and I arrived on Saturday, she was on oxygen and in pretty severe discomfort, but she smiled when she saw us. We traded jokes for a few minutes, but there was a pretty large crowd (50 or so, across five generations) in the hospital taking turns to talk to her so we couldn't talk for long. I'm extremely grateful I got a chance to say goodbye and to hold her hand for a few minutes.

One of the last things she said to her kids was "it's been a great ride, now get out of my car."

Thanks to my cousin Keisha for the picture above, taken just a couple of weeks ago. Helen will be missed by many, many people.

Hi from Ohio,

This storm has been dubbed 'February Fury' by the weather channel. Varying forecasts call for anywhere from 12 to 20 inches of snow over the next 24 hours, and I'm trapped in my mom's house with 6 of my sisters, plus my mom & her boyfriend. The last time I heard a story that began that way, it ended badly (Donner party, anyone)? Fortunately we have plenty of food. The weather here is not as bad as what's going on in New York, but for the Midwest it's a pretty nasty storm.

I flew the red-eye (San Francisco to Chicago to Columbus) on Friday night to see my aunt Helen, who was hospitalized for pneumonia followed by a heart attack last week. Of all mother's sisters (8 of them), Helen and Mom are closest in age and closest as friends. Sadly Helen passed away Saturday night, but her family (and mine) took solace in the fact that she was able to speak to us all, and that her passing was relatively peaceful.

Her children (9 of them; between the Rodes and the Rosendales alone there are 17 kids -- this doesn't include any of our other 40 or so cousins) scheduled two days of viewing, with services Wednesday and burial on Thursday. Because all of my sisters but one have come to town, we're all staying here with Mom for the week. Her boyfriend Harry sure picked a bad week to let his granddaughter & her family move into his house, and for him to move in with my mom...he's getting a concentrated dose of Rosendale family dynamics, that's for sure.

Last night's viewing at the funeral home was pretty heavily attended...there were at least 200 visitors for sure, probably more. Today's hours were cut short at 5PM for the blizzard; we barely made it back across town to Mom's house (I think I frightened my sister Kathi pretty severely when I barrelled through a drift on the north side of the railroad track crossover in our Pontiac Vibe rental car). We are now all pretty much snowed in for the next day at least...pray for me.

Here's a view from Mom's backyard, looking across the canal about noon today (it's 6:30 PM now and the sun has set, but it's still snowing hard).

Here's a view from the front of the house (trailer), looking down the street. The drifts that looked a foot or so at noon are about three feet now...