Let it Snow

By Bud Focht

Hi, my name is Bud and I am enjoying a snow day more than I have since I was a kid going sledding on a school day.

Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but staying home from work is so delightful. And since we have no place to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

We were expecting a lot of snow yesterday, last night and this morning, enough to close the schools and most places of business.

Today’s snow day could not have come at a better time. 

There have been quite a few times in the past where my place of work was closed due to snow but, because of my job, I still had to go in and work. This week that is not the case. I was able to get everything done on Monday that I had to get done early this week, and other work that has to be done this week I can do from home, so today I am able to stay home with my wife Terry.

Terry has been down in the dumps lately. I’m not sure if it was the fact that she had been sick with the flu, bored and lonely now that she only works one day a week and I am gone so much with work, or the fact that every once in a while it gets to her that she has Early Onset Alzheimer’s Disease.

To tell you the truth I am amazed that it does not get to her more often. But she is tough, tougher than I am. And it is a good thing.  (when the kids were little any time they would scrape a knee or get a bump or bruise and started to cry, I would always say to them “It’s a good thing you’re tough!” and most of the time they would take pride in being tough and stop crying. It became a running joke in our house when they got older.)

But Terry is tough. She never complains. And God knows she has plenty to complain about, and I’m not even talking about having to put up with me. But last week she was visibly upset about being home alone so much and it was killing me.

This is my busy time of year, working 70 hours a week. I try to take Terry with me on the road trips I have to take, and that helps a great deal. But during the day when I am at work she is all alone.

I try to keep her busy, every day giving her a list of things to do. And that helps as well, for the most part.

When Terry and I were first married I would get Sports Illustrated and read about half of the magazine, just the things that interested me. She would read it cover to cover, even the stupid stuff like sailing, curling, and fencing.

Now she reads the Bible every day.

She also used to read books, novels.

Terry does not enjoy reading as much as she used to.  It is tough for her to follow what is going on. She’ll read a few pages but by the time she gets to the end of a chapter she’ll forget what she read in the previous chapter.

When she reads her scriptures she uses highlighters, which helps her.

Watching movies also is not as enjoyable for her because she has trouble following the plot.

She has always been a big sports fan and watching games is still great for her. There is always the score on the screen so it is easy to follow and remember who is winning and how much time is left or what inning it is.

Her favorite teams growing up were the Boston Red Sox, the New England Patriots and the Providence College basketball team. To this day she can still name the starting five and the sixth man on the PC team that went to the Final Four in 1972-73.

Over the years I’ve taken her to a few Red Sox games and she was like a pig in mud.

Her Patriots are in the Super Bowl next week so Terry is a very happy camper.

So today I will find many stories about her Patriots on the web and let her read them, and we’ll watch plenty of SportsCenter on ESPN when they are talking about the big game.

On Super Bowl Sunday our daughters will be home with their boyfriends to watch the game with us. It will be a great day. Over the past dozen years or so, when I didn’t have to work on Super Sunday, Terry and I always went over my friend Jack’s house to watch the Super Bowl. He always had a good sized party with relatives and old friends and neighbors and it was the place to be.

The years when the Patriots were in the big game, however, Terry had to watch the game at home. She used to concentrate so much on every play; she didn’t like the party atmosphere, where we would be having side bets on such things as:

this next play will be a pass or a run

which team will be the first team to get a first down

how soon will Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch grab his crotch (something he has been fined for several times this year)

When the Patriots were playing Terry was an intense fan and could not be distracted.

Not so much anymore, although she still loves her Pats.

And today is looking like it will be a great day too, since I am able to stay home with Terry.

Four years ago my son bought me a snow blower. Then we went three years without any snow. Last year made up for the previous three with numerous snowfalls.  Today I planned on using the snow blower but we only got a few inches.

Which made this an even better snow day. No work and also no inconvenience of a ton of snow.

Nothing like a snow day to make things so delightful!

Until next time, hope you have an unexpected day off in the near future.

Bud