When we first moved to Elgin in Illinois, it was a big change for my family. My husband and I had both grown up and gone to college in the southern part of the country. We expected to raise our kids and spend our whole lives there. My kids were ages eight, six and four-years-old when my husband got offered a much better job. He was given a more prestigious title, upward potential and a significant raise in pay. We couldn’t pass up the opportunity. However, it meant moving north. It took us twenty-six hours of driving to reach Elgin. It is a charming town, and in the summer, the weather when we arrived was beautiful. There was blue skies, sunshine and flowers blooming. Although we didn’t know anyone, our neighbors were very friendly. They were also very helpful in providing information. Since we’d only visited Elgin briefly before the move, we had no idea of the best grocery store, coffee shop, restaurant, mechanic or hair salon. When the fall season arrived, we were all delighted with the crisp breeze, colorful leaves and great food. We’d never tasted grapes fresh off the vine, freshly picked apples or corn from a farmer’s market before. I had so much fun making zucchini bread, pumpkin pie and apple cobbler. We were not prepared for the brutality of the winter. The temperature seemed to drop overnight, and it started to snow. We didn’t own a snow shovel, an ice scraper or warm enough coats. The kids were excited to build snowmen, go sledding and try ice skating. I could hardly tolerate being outside for more than a few minutes at a time.