The Slice: Remembering all the way back to ’15

It’s a new year, we’re supposed to move on.

But I’m guessing that, for some of us, 2015 won’t ever really end. I am thinking especially of little kids who will carry with them memories of the November windstorm and power outages.

You know those documentaries featuring wizened geriatrics recalling events of long, long ago? Sure. Well, in about 75 years, you can expect to see old people who used to be children in Spokane.

Interviewer: “So you were actually there when the wind picked up. What was it like?”

Windstorm survivor: “Well sir, I’ll tell you. The air outside started to sound like jet aircraft engines. The trees began to groan. And my father got this worried look in his eyes.”

Interviewer: “What did he do?”

Windstorm survivor: “He said ‘C’mon Bud’ – even though my name is Liam, he called me Bud – ‘let’s go out and try to steal a generator.’”

Interviewer: “How old were you?”

Windstorm survivor: “I was 5.”

Interviewer: “When did your power go out?”

Windstorm survivor: “Early evening on the 17th. Just before the wolves came.”

Interviewer: “In written accounts at the time, people alluded to cannibalism. Care to comment?”

Windstorm survivor: “Uh, you know, I don’t like to talk about that. We all did what we had to do to survive. That’s all I’ll say.”

Interviewer: “So how long were you in the cold without electricity?”

Windstorm survivor: “I want to say 40 days and 40 nights. A long time. It was a struggle just to keep your phone charged.”

Interviewer: “That had to be rough.”

Windstorm survivor: “My mother could not make coffee in the morning. It made a crazy woman of her. I wasn’t sure we were going to make it.”

Interviewer: “How did you endure?”

Windstorm survivor: “Well, the newspaper – do you know what they were? – kept getting delivered each morning. And my parents would read by flashlight about others who had it worse.”

Interviewer: “How did you stay warm?”

Windstorm: survivor: “I wore so many layers that I looked like some sort of pupa.”

Interviewer: “Do people ever ask you about the Windstorm of ’15?”

Windstorm survivor: “Yes, on occasion. I get invited to speak at schools during Nov. 17 assemblies. But it’s hard to know what to say. You really had to live through it to relate to what I’m talking about. You had to be a ’15er.”

Today’s Slice question: Have your resolutions fizzled already?

Write The Slice at P. O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. The 4th of July is on a Monday this year.