Do you remember those holiday disasters that, at the moment, seemed like an epic failure, but years later at another family holiday gathering the conversation starts, “Remember when?” What follows is belly laughter and fond memories as you recall those tense moments.
Several people are willing to share their disaster-turned-memory stories in an effort to help all of us remember not to take life too seriously … even the holiday disasters.
“John and I were got married during the holidays 23 years ago,” says Kathy Schleier. “We went to Canada for our honeymoon to ride the transcontinental railway from Edmonton to Vancouver. Our first night in Edmonton, the fire alarm went off at 3 a.m. and we had to stand outside in 20-below weather while they checked the hotel. This should have been a sign.
“Our train to Vancouver arrived 2 hours late because kids in Montreal were playing chicken on the tracks. We got halfway to Vancouver and the train stopped because the front engine froze, then lost power to heat water and cook, so no meals were served in the dining room.
“We finally arrived in Vancouver, much later than scheduled, picked up our rental car and drove to our hotel. We planned to visit Victoria the next day. As we were pulling into our hotel, it started snowing. We had heard Vancouver got very little snow. That night we had a record snowfall and everything shut down. So much for our visit to Victoria. We look back now and laugh, but it was not funny at the time. We were really disappointed.”