Grief & healing: Late winter snowfall a nice surprise

I find late winter snow beautiful and strangely comforting. Of course it’s not nice if you must be driving or commuting in it.

On Wednesday of last week, it snowed here. We got a light cover, so everything was white. It was beautiful.

Before it started, the yard looked like the beginning of spring. Then suddenly with snow cover, it became winter again.

Last year, and so far this year, we got less than half the average snowfall for this area. So the snow was a nice surprise.

It was a good example of the famous Chicago weather — wait five minutes and it changes. Not literally true, but it is true that Chicago weather can fluctuate quickly.

Anyway, I thought it was fun to see things all white again. Especially since we’ve had so little snow this winter.

It isn’t an accident that weather is a popular topic for small talk. Weather shapes a good deal of our daily lives and plans. It affects all sorts of our activities, from little to big choices.

My dear Baheej wasn’t good at small talk. Sitting and talking with friends yes, but chitchat small talk about the weather, no.

Actually this is something very helpful that I learned from him — that it’s just as easy to talk about something of interest than it is to make small talk!

So as I’m writing about today’s snowfall, I naturally think of him. But I think today’s weather can be an exception because it is special, unexpected, and adds a very bright spot to the end of our almost snowless winter.

The point is: We continue to learn and expand our perspectives through our partners and friends. They have enriched our lives in countless ways.

• Susan Anderson-Khleif of Sleepy Hollow has a doctorate in family sociology from Harvard, taught at Wellesley College and is a retired Motorola executive. Contact her at sakhleif@aol.com.