The Blizzard of '78 Remembered: A kid's perspective
I was just a little guy in early February 1978, living in my childhood home in Seekonk.
Small enough that the exact details of the Blizzard are vague although there are a few specifics I will never forget.
First, I was lucky to live in the same neighborhood as my elementary school, the same school my mom taught at.
So we were fortunate to not HAVE to drive or take a bus, school was an easy 3 block walk from home.
Mom and I made it home just fine in the early afternoon of February 6, 1978, less than an hour after school was dismissed early (that actually happened back then!).
That walk home was MUCH more enjoyable for me than I imagine for my mom. By 2pm on the 6th the snow was coming down HARD.
We couldn't see much more than a few feet in front of us but the walk so familiar we had no real problems getting home.
For my dad, the trip home was a different story. He was a principal at another school in town.
Only a few miles away, his trip usually took less than 10 minutes most days. Not THIS day though, we wouldn't see dad until after dinnertime. Based on the stories we would hear over the next few days he was to lucky to make it home at all!
My memories of the next day or so are fuzzy but my next real recollection centers on the massive amount of snow I found when I finally was able to get outside.
- GALLERY: The Blizzard of '78
I know it took a few days for our street to get plowed so we were house bound for many days.
We had lots of kids in the neighborhood so we did what kids do, we played in the snow...for days!
My snow fort lasted weeks! Built out of the combination of shoveled snow and the eventual piles left from the town plow.
We had no school for about a week! That was cool, but making those days up in late June...well, not so much!
The Blizzard of '78 will always be the Granddaddy of storms for me, and likely that way for ALL of us who remember what it was like 45 years ago!
Thanks for reading, Mark.