The first snow this winter will remain in my mind for long time. You will know why by end of this post.
11-15-2018 – As the snow prediction was 1-2 inches, we went ahead with our usual routine. Around 2pm, weather was getting worse so I decided to leave early from work. The plan was to leave at 4pm and arrive home before 5:30pm. Add to that it was the first day of monthly special too. Cramps started and I just couldn’t wait to go home.
Everything was going great, I left at 4, reached second station on time and boarded 4:48 train that was surprisingly on time too. I got a window seat and happily settled down to browse social media. M was on his way to the station to pick me and I will be home by 5:30pm. Happy me!
Fast forward to 20 minutes..
The train stops in a station, I lift my head up to make sure I am just one station away and notice that the place/station looks unfamiliar. I take a closer look and check with the co-passenger . He says a station name I have never heard of before! Panic attack!! I have boarded a wrong line train and travelled around 20 minutes already. It is snowing heavily outside, cramps are killing me and there I am almost close to burst out.
The co-passenger suggested best option is to get off in the next main station, board the next train to origin station and then take the next train from origin to home. I did the same and reached home around 9:30pm. On the other end, M returned back to go pickup LHB as I boarded wrong train and was struck on road for almost 3 hours to reach LHB’s school that is just 10 minutes away from station. LHB was picked up at 8:30pm.
We called LHB’s school and they assured that kids are safe, eating snacks/watching movie and not to rush as they understand the situation and quite a few working parents are struck on their way. God bless those teachers who were on duty that day!
Adi returned home on time in school bus and was home alone and worried about us!
I had to wait for almost one hour in a tunnel to board the next train. The coldness made my feet and hand numb. Thankfully, I had a company. It was funny as there was another person who narrated the same reasons as me – got a window seat, browsing phone, looked up and there we were waiting in that cold weather to board the next train to origin station.
The good side is I met a neighbor after reaching origin station and he agreed to drop me home. Imagine the odds of seeing a neighbor in a heavily crowded station while all trains are delayed. I call these blessings. Otherwise, I have no idea how I would have reached home as Uber was not going through and M was stranded on the way to pickup LHB. An express train was changed into local after the crowd in platform started shouting in unison as “make it local, make it local” in a rhythmic way!
I don’t know if M could have picked me even if I boarded the right train. Maybe it is supposed to happen this way. God bless all the god souls who extended their helping hand that day!
P.S: We had a family movie night today and I started drafting this post at the beginning of movie. Movie is over and the clan is off to bed but I just didn’t want to leave this in draft. So, extended my time to publish this post. LHB is sitting next to me waiting to go to bed. Please excuse for any mistakes in this post.
Between my littles and me 