Retro Blizzard of ’96 Among RFH Friends

*Weathering a real storm in 1996 with RFH grad Steph DeSesa.*

It’s a classic snow story worth repeating …

Our Retro Pic of the Day takes us back to a blizzard that was true to its word.

What was dubbed The Blizzard of ’96 hit the Rumson-Fair Haven area with full force in early January of 1996. This one lived up to its promise to render everyone in the area immobile.

A state of emergency was issued as the snow piled on and New Jersey was truly shut down this time. The state of emergency happened to take hold in the middle of the funeral of this editor’s mom. Figures. Nothing one can plow the fun out of funeral like a bonafide blizzard. Then there are those mourners — lifetime friends — who refuse to let a little snow bury the fun in a condolences pow wow among childhood besties. Amen.

As people were trying to make it off the roads and home or somewhere cozy in time, one RFH grad’s car got stuck at the bottom of a hilly street in Rumson. That RFH grad was Stephanie DeSesa — my best bud from second grade and all through the years.

Steph was making her way from the interrupted service at the funeral home to a mutual friend’s, house — the other Musketeer, Daryl Cooper. Steph got stuck, had to leave the car and trudge up the hill on Bellevue in Rumson, little Yorkie Sergio in tow, to get reinforcements and, yes, shelter. Most urgently, though, was the after-party to be had. And it had to be had.

What friends saw when they opened their door was priceless — a frozen, snow capped Steph, sense of humor still intact. Steph was a funny woman. Grief took a pause for a snow-packed chill and laugh among childhood friends. Then the laughter stopped altogether when we lost Steph at 50 in 2011.

This picture says it all about weathering a real storm, literally chilling out and having fun. Call it a milestone freeze frame. It’s a picture I so wanted to be in. My car, as I, too, was trying to keep the fun in funeral, spun out on the street where I lived in Fair Haven, so I never made it there for the best of that blizzard. Oh, I was on the phone with them, but the antics were clearly much better in person. Knowing they were there, though, was all that mattered. Well, there was post-funeral FOMO, of course.

So, happy blizzard of great memories! The milk and bread don’t matter as much as you think. Remember humor, the good times. Keep them thriving and weathering those bad times.

Laugh. Tread lightly on the snow hysteria. Save it for the chuckle when you need it most. Be like Steph.