Despite all the inconvenience caused by the storm, I am still grateful that I had the opportunity to be together with my family. We were trapped at home because the heavy snow outside blocked the path. But I have more opportunities to talk with my father and my other family members, which enabled me to realize that I have such an understanding father and a caring family.

My parents gave up farming to become migrant workers in Guangdong six years ago. Though they were reluctant to leave their children and Grandmother, they had to make more money in order to pay their three children’s education fees. In the previous years during the Spring Festival, both my parents went back home just on the eve of the Spring Festival or didn’t go home at all. I still remember the time when we spent our holiday without our parents’ being home. While we were in high school years, during that time, my relatives always nagged us saying that my parents had determined to work outside and couldn’t make it home because of us kids. That made us feel guilty and it hurt us. Because the factory paid twice the salary and the trip home cost too much money, they wanted to save money for our tuition. But this year, it was going to be different. With the knowledge that the storm was going to strike the southern part of Nanchang, exactly where my hometown is located. My father hurried home. He was home even two days before our winter break. He was so worried about my grandmother who is 80 years old living alone at home.

Having my father home early was good for us, anyway, there was someone to cook the meals and provide the fuel for the stove. It had been snowing for almost a month. It was freezing cold outside and I almost never stepped out of the threshold of my house during the month. All the days passed around the stove. We burned a lot of firewood. At last the firewood had nearly run out and it was difficult to buy any more. Other people were also afraid that if the weather didn’t become better, they would use up theirs too. So we were very careful with the rest of the firewood and burned everything else that could be burned like the dry orange peels and the rubbish. We had an orange orchard behind our house. We also made every use of the fire. We warmed ourselves and heated water on it. Sometimes I put some potatoes in the fire to bake and then divided them among the family members. I still miss the taste.

Though we didn’t have electricity, we didn’t complain. We had a lot of other enjoyment. During the daytime by the stove, I carried a novel to read, imagining myself in another world. My father dozed to sleep in front of the fire. My siblings were teasing each other. My grandmother happily watched us. We all have a good rest and talked a lot. My father revealed much of his past experiences, which we never knew before. During the nights, he even shared the bed with my grandmother to keep her warm. I was not very close to my father but then I realized he had such an unconditional love for all of us.

Thanks to the storm, my father was unable to have a long stay at home during the Spring Festival. Our family didn’t lose many possessions. Though it brought inconvenience and transportation blockage, we were able to return to a simple way of life and we enjoyed heavenly comfort at home.