-Hugo-snow in the south-off topic

[Guest guest]

Oh btw it doesn't snow on Christmas here either. Except for once, Dec 1989;

right after hurricane Hugo had devastated the lowcountry; we had 18inches

on Christmas Eve. Really!! A once in a lifetime fluke, a White Christmas in

the deep south.

Chrissy

Chrissy,

Scrubbing the kitchen in a fenzy......heavens, that can do it!! I hope you're

okay. I think my frenzy was hanging all the lights on the tree and helping

Bob move it around too much. I'm paying for it today with some residual pain

and, of all things, a tooth ache! I felt the tooth ache coming on Friday night

at

dinner, and it's slowly erupted into a continuous throbbing, yikes! Last time

this happened I woke one morning looking like a chipmunk with a whole

handful of nuts stored in its cheeks, and was in indescribable pain to boot.

The dentist told me that if I'd waited another day it would have been a

hospital-type emergency. So I've already called his office and was surprised

to find someone on the other end of the phone on a Sunday. But there was,

and I've got a 9:00 a.m. appointment. Let's just hope that it stays

manageable until then. I'm wearing my duragesic patch and taking my

Percocet, too, so it could well be more painful than it seems and the meds are

just covering it up.

I remember that year very well, Chrissy! We had moved in with my

father-in-law next door who was ill and needed someone with him full time to

help look out for him. I spent a few weeks working a 6 p.m. to midnight shift

as a volunteer at our local radio station, acting as a dispatcher for hurricane

relief for Hugo. I was working a full time job then as an architectural

designer

and construction estimator for a local construction company on Hilton Head.

The radio station here was the only one that was on the air for

tonian's after Hugo hit for a few weeks when everyone lost power.

Because I'd lived in ton for ten years previously and knew the city, N.

ton, West , Mt. Pleasant and Summerville areas well, they

pulled me in to answer phone calls from ton people looking for relief

stations and to coordinate the relief efforts (trucks full of generators, food,

clothing, water, household supplies, toilet paper, etc) that were being sent up

to that area from those of us here who were more fortunate. No pay for that

job, but the spiritual reward was tremendous! I had to go up to Mt. Pleasant

two days after Hugo hit to pick up my son, who had been visiting his dad in

Mt. Pleasant when the storm hit. They had evacced to Columbia, as we had

to, also - stupid of us, wasn't it? The normal 2 hour trip from here to

ton took me 6 hours, trying to detour around all the fallen trees from

Walterboro on to and through Summerville and down to Mt. Pleasant on the

back roads. Horrible, horrible devastation.

Anyhow, after that excitement came the snow on Christmas. I have pictures

of a " Merry Christmas " banner over the main street of Bluffton with huge piles

of snow everywhere, the street completely invisible from the snow, and all the

palmettos lining the street covered with the white stuff. We had them made

into Christmas cards! The foundation piers for our house were up then, and

the photos show piles of snow on top of all the piers. Never before or since!

Well, I really rambled on this one, but it was a poignant recollection of better

days. I hope you get your shopping done and are just taking it easy, as best

you can.

With hope and prayers,

Heidi

Heidi H. Griffeth

South Carolina

SC & SE Regional Rep.

PAI, Intl.

Note: All comments and advice are personal opinion only, and should

not be

should be substituted for a professional medical consultation.