01/29/2026
This recent snow has had me thinking about the stories my great-grandparents used to tell.
They spoke of a time when winter storms were a regular part of life and there were
no plows, no salt trucks, no quick fixes. Snow was handled by hand labor. The unwritten rule was simple: each family was responsible for clearing the stretch of road that touched their property. The more road frontage your farm had, the more work you had ahead of you.
When the snow piled up, neighbors didnāt wait for help to arrive. They became the help. Families would gather parents, kids, relatives all bundled up with shovels, working together to clear the roads one scoop at a time. Long days. Cold hands. Shared laughter. Shared exhaustion. Itās hard to picture that kind of life now.
But there was something beautiful about it. A sense of togetherness. A way of life where neighbors depended on one another, showed up without being asked, and took pride in helping the whole community move forward.
Life today looks very different than it did back then. Some things are easier. Some things are faster. But sometimes I wonder if weāve lost that closeness along the way. These old stories are a quiet reminder for all of us of the grit, humility, and unity our ancestors lived by and of how much we take for granted today.
So Iāll ask you this:
Do you have a memory, story, or family tradition from āback thenā that you wish still existed today?
