I was born and raised in Redding, California. We lived out in what you would call the country on a large piece of property with not very many homes around. Redding enjoyed the four seasons, and even though snow was not common it was not rare either. When snow would fall though, it would usually melt the same day. 

One particular Christmas season, when I was about 10 years old, it did snow. And boy did it snow. Record snow that shut down the city. There was so much snow, and such wet snow that it collapsed buildings all over the city. I can remember hearing about big department stores that had their roofs completely cave in. As a kid though, it was fun to enjoy this snow during our Christmas vacation from school. Christmas was already one of the best times as a kid. At our home we opened all of our presents on Christmas Eve, and then Christmas morning we would get a stocking from Santa. This snow just added to the excitement.

But one problem came from the snow. It caused electrical outages all through the city, even out in the country where we lived! The week before Christmas we had no electricity. We used candles and flashlights to see in the dark, my mother cooked on the fireplace, and we would sleep around the fire to stay warm. After a week without electricity it became frustrating and not really fun anymore. My dad said that if the electricity didn’t come on before Christmas Eve we would have to wait to open our presents. I remember I was so sad. I got down on my knees and prayed that the electricity would come on.