Over the course of Tuesday and Wednesday, families across Western New York will gather around dinner tables, church pews and Christmas trees. It's something to look forward to, but on this very day, we look back on a blizzard that buried the city of Buffalo and beyond.

"I've always cherished my family, but it definitely brings us way closer, you know," said Jay Withey, who helped save more than 20 lives during the devastating blizzard."

The events are more of a blur as time passes to Withey, who earned the moniker “Merry Christmas Jay” and stays in contact with the family he made, saved in a BOCES campus in Cheektowaga. 

"It's just something I think you'll never get over: realizing that you got lucky that you made it out,” he said. 

Taking a drive on a snowy Christmas Eve, we passed a neighborhood in North Buffalo, where the family of one of the lives lost were gathered.

"It means a lot for our family," said Sophia Clay, who lost her brother William not too far from the grocer where her older brother James kicked off a mayoral campaign. "It is a moment that we are using to reach out to the community and to give love and support and just to heal some in some way. We have to remember that people lost their lives. Brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers/ And after today, a lot of people can go on with their lives. But the hurt that we that we share collectively, cohesively, we must come together and support each other."

There's a shared pain and relief as we look back two years at a storm of the century and what it means to everyone involved.

"You see [Demetrius] in every family member and every person that comes up to me that have encountered him say he was such a friendly, jolly person and he loved them. It was a healing process for myself and my family as well. You can't drive forward if you're looking backwards." 

Whether we have lost loved ones or gained them along these winters...

"It was an eye opener. It really was," said Withey. "It brings more of a family presence. Just cherish what you got."