Dark Snowy Days

Today was a strange day.  This was a strange weekend.  A snow storm in October which caused power outages?  Mine only lasted for less than 48 hours while others are still holding on and just trying to survive.  What I noticed though were the extreme ways in which people turned to survive the power outage.  I saw people who reached out to help others and I saw people take a "I am saving me and leaving" stance.  I stayed and helped others.  Who has the money these days to just get up and go?  What I got from my experience though was the opportunity to see compassion and selflessness in its purest form.  I saw strangers helping strangers.  I met people in my building I never met before.  We reached out to help each other and in return we received company and friendship while encountering a tough situation.  People with wheelchairs were trapped many floors up, but I saw those who were able to leave ensure those people had enough food.  Messages were being sent to each floor to tell us there was coffee on floor 4 or apples in the community room.  We helped each other.  Were we cold and did we want showers?  Yes.  Sure.  But we survived.  We are true to our titles of being Western, MA tough.