Bobby G

If you grew up in Philadelphia, you remember the Blizzard of '96. It hit the first weekend of January, and by the time it stopped, the city was buried under 30.7 inches of snow. The biggest snowstorm Philly has ever recorded. You sat by the radio waiting for KYW to read your school's closing number. Then it came. No school. The mayor declared a state of emergency, and for a few days the streets belonged to the plows and to us. Every hill in the neighborhood became a sled run. Real sleds, trash can lids, flattened cardboard boxes, whatever you could grab. Your gloves were soaked in ten minutes. Your mom made hot chocolate anyway. Then came the real work: digging out the car, only for the plow to bury it again an hour later. And once you got that spot clear? Out came the lawn chair. That spot was yours now. Everybody knew the rules. There was so much snow the city ran out of places to put it, so trucks dumped it straight into the Schuylkill and the Delaware. Where were you during the Blizzard of '96? And be honest… did you ever save a spot with a lawn chair? 📷