The Big Snow!

THE BIG SNOW!
Our long-time friend - Maggie Gibbens - called us today to remind us that today is the anniversary of the Big Blizzard of ‘47. I hadn’t forgotten about it - I knew that it occurred in May, but did forget the exact date, It happened during the night. When we woke up on Wednesday morning, May 7, 1947, the ground was covered with a heavy blanket of snow!
Maggie and Steve Gibbens, and Marie and I, were living in the student housing- complex in the Willow Run Village, between Wayne and Ypsilanti, in Southeast Michigan, These “temporary” structures were built to house the workers at the Willow-Run bomber plant. The plant was built to build B-24 heavy bombers - at a rate of one per hour - 24 per day! After World War II ended, the bomber plant was taken over by Kaiser-Frazer in a joint venture to build Kaiser and Frazer automobiles. Both Maggie and Marie worked in the office at the plant, to help support Steve and I, so that we could attend the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Steve, and I, rode the “ veterans school bus” from Willow Run to the campus, and back - a distance of about 13 miles each way. On this morning of May 7th, the snow was so deep that they cancelled the school bus. I don’t remember whether Pete was able to drive our 1941 Chevy convertible to work.
Before we were married, on December 23, 1944, Marie had never been out of California! She was born and raised in Tulare - a city of about 5,000 people - straddling Highway 99 - between Fresno and Bakersfield.
The next day, after the big blizzard, Marie gave me an ultimatum! “Ray, you have a decision to make - Michigan or me! Because I’m leaving! I’m going back to California” (What’s the old saying? “You can take the girl out of California, but you can’t take California out of the girl!”). I was tempted to respond with, “Can I get back to you on this?” But, I knew the timing wasn’t too great! I chose California, and I am glad that I did.
When the school year ended, we put everything, that we owned, in the back seat of the Chevy, and it was “California here we come”. That was 61 years ago! Except for four and a half years, that we spent living in Hawaii, we have lived in California ever since!