Thirty-nine years ago during a winter much like we’re having this year, I was learning to drive. I remember the second two-hour behind-the-wheel driving lesson.

The lesson was from 6 to 8 p.m. on a Tuesday evening; it had snowed and there was quite a bit of traffic. We were living in Dayton, Ohio, and as the instructor guided me toward the Interstate, he said to head north on Interstate 75 toward Troy. I was nervous about driving in the snow, yet alone on the interstate. He was calm and talked me through merging onto the busy highway and driving north to a town that I was not familiar with at all. He instructed me to take the Troy exit and we headed into a residential area.

All at once he said I should hit the brakes and the car started to slide on the slippery road. He guided me to get the car back under control and then we continued on. I asked him how he stayed so calm and why he had directed me to hit the brakes when he knew it would cause me to lose control. He said that I would be a better driver if I knew how to handle a situation such as this and there was no better time to learn than right away and that he had a brake and lever on his side of the car so he would not have let me hit another vehicle. He also said that it would teach me to be a responsible and cautious driver.

Last weekend I made a trip to Sioux Falls to see my sister and I left Albert Lea about 8 a.m. on Saturday morning. The weather seemed to be fine, but just before I got to Blue Earth, I saw a pickup that had just spun out and ended up in the median. I called the state patrol and reported the accident. I could see that there were two people in the truck, but they appeared to be OK. I continued west toward Sioux Falls and during my three-hour trip I saw 15 vehicles in the median or ditch. There were patches of ice and the wind I’m sure was a factor in some of the accidents. Three of the vehicles had flipped on their tops and two of them had actually broken the wheels off their axles.

I was relieved when I reached my sister’s safely. We had a nice visit and began our plans for a couple of projects we are working on for our family reunion this summer. Our dad died 40 years ago this past New Year’s Eve and Mom passed away two years ago the 28th of this month. So we thought it would be fun to take some of Mom’s clothes and make quilts or comforters for all of our siblings and to put photos from their lives on them, too. So we discussed patterns and layouts and began the ground work for our project. The other project is a shadow box for each sibling with a photo of Mom, a piece of her jewelry and some of her favorite playing cards and possibly some other memento for each. Another project that my sister is doing for the reunion will be a family DVD with photos submitted by each of us of our families through the years. We shopped for shadow boxes and photo transfer materials and pattern ideas for our projects. We ended the day by playing our Mom’s favorite card game, Aggravation.

Sunday about 11 a.m., I headed for home. I thought the roads would be better, but much to my surprise, I wasn’t even out of Sioux Falls before I saw my first accident. The roads seemed to be more treacherous on Sunday than they were on Saturday. There were 10 accidents between Sioux Falls and Worthington and many of them happened before my very eyes. At one point a state patrolman was responding to an accident and he began to fishtail right in front of me. I held the wheel tightly and prayed that he would keep his vehicle straight and not turn broadside in front of me. He was able to gain control and stop on the shoulder before reaching the accident that had occurred ahead of us. Many of the accidents happened near overpasses and by areas where wind breaks had caused the roads to be glare ice. Needless to say, my hands were clamped tightly to the steering wheel and I was glad when I reached Albert Lea safely.

We never know when our last day might be. I received a call on Monday that made that evident; I learned that my 41-year-old cousin died on that day at the age of 41 years, of an apparent heart attack. So what am I saying? Don’t put off till tomorrow what you need to do today, because we never know if tomorrow will come, do we?

We had another library lock-in a few weeks ago and each person that we help wishes they had started earlier and had ask more questions of their grandparents or even parents. The museum is not only the entity that collects and preserves the history of our county, but also of its people. If you have a family history that you would like to donate to our library we would be delighted to add it to our collection.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the 300-plus members who have already paid their 2009 membership dues. And we would like to encourage everyone else to send in or drop off your memberships this week so you won’t have a lapse in your membership and to save us from calling or sending you a notice. Household memberships are $25 and any amount given above that is a tax deductible donation. Memberships represent about 30 percent of our operating budget. Please consider joining if you have not been a member in the past and help us to preserve and protect the heritage of our community for generations to come.

Pat Mulso is the executive director of the Freeborn County Historical Museum in Albert Lea.