On the prairies, winter storms can blow up very fast.
Obliterating the countryside and bringing visibility to
zero.
One can lose one’s way walking between the house and the
barn.
The best thing to do is to get inside where it’s warm and
stay put.
If one has warning, one can get to the nearest safe place.
If one doesn’t . . .
A storm was coming. The local school had been emptied of
children, sent home with strict instructions to get there as quickly as
possible.
Most of them made it.
One little girl did not.
As the storm closed over the area, frantic searchers were
sent out, fanning the countryside for one tiny figure in the vast, freezing
blizzard.
A hopeless search.
It was many hours before my Uncle Owen found her, nearly
frozen solid.
He hefted her on his back and began to make his way toward
the Stringam home. Partway there, he met his father and the two of them managed
to carry the poor, frozen figure the rest of the way.
My Dad remembers the scene well as they carried the still
and silent girl into the house. As he told us, her feet ‘clopped together like
two wooden blocks’.
She was handed over to my Grandma Stringam, who was largely
accepted as the ‘doctor’ in the area.
Grandma took the little frozen body and laid her on the bed.
Then, throughout the night, she tended her, rubbing her extremities with coal
oil.
By the next morning, the girl was awake and improving.
She survived - her only damage the loss of the nail from
one little finger - largely due to the knowledge and care of my
grandma.
Pictures of the prairies show a soft, gently-folded landscape.
Largely treeless, but covered in waving grass and sagebrush. The occasional
stream or river flows through and the sky is clear and endless.
A perfect world.
But, in winter, it is a place to be respected.
Anything can happen.
And when it does, thank goodness for people like my Grandma.
yep, that story could've had a terrible ending. Thank goodness it didn't.
ReplyDeleteI knew the ending, but all my life, whenever that story was told, I'd shiver in horror and pray for the little girl!
DeleteYour Grandma was a wise and caring lady. What a lucky little girl to survive that experience.
ReplyDeletePretty amazing experience!
DeleteReally interesting story! Your family saved that little girl's life!
ReplyDeleteStill makes me shiver to hear about it!
DeleteWhat a blessing that your grandma was there for that little girl. She's a treasure indeed. I wonder what happened to the girl after that. Do you know?
ReplyDeleteShe grew up, married and raised a family. As an adult, years later, she came back for a visit and stopped by to see my Grandma. Pretty touching reunion!
DeleteYes indeed, thank goodness for people like your Grandma and the old methods which saved many a life before modern medicine made such advances. Here on the other side of the world, we ooh and aah over the prettiness of snow covered fields and homes, we have little knowledge of the fierceness of such an environment apart from what we hear on the news when there is a tragedy.
ReplyDeleteSo pretty. So deadly. But you have your challenges, too! Your coral reefs and the dangers that can lurk in your beautiful blue waters!
DeleteTwo miracles. Finding her and reviving her. What an amazing story.
ReplyDeleteTruly a miraculous story. That little girl ended up in just the right place with your Grandma!
ReplyDeleteWhat a miracle! I sure have lots of great memories of grandma! I miss her and Aunt Emily a lot!
ReplyDeleteLove,
Chris
I love hearing stories about your Grandmother. She has taken on hero proportions in my mind...and it seems in real life. I've always said from the time I was little that I was born way to late. I would have loved to live that life blizzards and all!
ReplyDeleteNeighbors who risked everything to help one another. I'm with Rena, I think I was born way too late! Your grandma sounds like an incredible woman... Thanks for bringing these memories to life. :(
ReplyDeleteSusan sent me - and I am so glad she did. What a lucky little girl, and a wonderful story of that disappearing marvel, a community. Thank you - and your grandma.
ReplyDelete