How Broken Electric Poles Brought My Family Closer

In February of this year my part of Iowa was hit with several severe winter storms in a row. We lost electric service for five days. These storms brought my family closer together.

We had our winter survival kit ready. Enough canned food and a manual can opener. Kerosene for the portable heater and plenty of water in milk jugs. We stocked up on batteries for the flashlights and radio and lots of candles. We made sure the cell phone had a full charge.

We watched the storm through our sliding glass doors in the living room. It was so intense that at times we couldn't see our neighbors house 60 feet from ours. The wind was blowing over 45m.p.h, making for whiteout conditions.

Around noon the lights started flickering and then went out. We turned on the radio. There were reports of snapped power lines. They were predicting parts of the state to be without power for several days to over a week or more.

The first couple of hours was spent getting the 2 older kids' homework caught up. We started lighting candles when it started to get dark out. We sat in the living room just looking at each other, my 6 year old saying he was bored and my 17 year old complaining that I wouldn't let her use the cell phone to call her friends. I told them we were going to play a game. Each person had to tell something that was bothering him or her, something the rest of the family didn't know about. Amid the grumbling and eye rolling from the kids I started the game.

During the next couple of days we reconnected as a family. I learned that my husband had some concerns at work and wanted to start looking for a different job but didn't want the rest of us to suffer financially for his decision. My 6 year old told us he was having some problems with a bully at school. Which college to choose and life after graduation was something my 17-year-old daughter was anxious about. She needed some advice and guidance to start planning the rest of her life. My 10-month-old daughter was basking in attention. She took turns sitting and cuddling with each one of us.