Touched by Kindness

Today was one of those days. Does everyone have them? Please tell me yes! Hubby and I were up well before the sun shoveling away 6 inches of snow from the driveway while our beloved snow blower was in the shop. It was a little frustrating to know that another 6 inches would be falling throughout the day, but we had places to be! After saying our lengthy good-byes to Daddy, I quickly finished tidying the house for an appraisal later in the day. Then I started the stressful process of gathering up, bundling up and buckling up all 4 kids to take Kylee to school. With everyone in the car I took a deep breath and tried to relax... I then turned the key and heard click, after click after click. Again and again I tried, but the engine wouldn't start. I panicked. I noticed my neighbor walking outside with his snowblower and asked if he could take my little girl to school. He was happy to oblige, and after arranging her booster in his car, they were off! I tried, rather unsuccessfully, to keep the 3 boys happy while they waited in the cold van for the neighbor to return. When he did, he pulled into my garage and jump started my van. I let him know how very grateful I was and he, who is newly retired, told me how wonderful it felt to be needed and helpful. How blessed I felt!

I carefully drove on very slippery roads (while Cole hollered, "Don't drive fast on the roads, Mommy! You might bonk the car and die!") and dropped the boys off with a friend. She had so graciously offered to watch them all while I went to an appointment and met up with Kylee at school for lunch. Such generosity!! In the middle of my appointment, I got a message from my husband saying the school had called and was closing the school down in less than an hour due to the intense snow storm. I hurried along to pick up a very disappointed daughter (she loves school!), then made my way to my friend's house to gather the boys. I took my time leaving so that the kids wouldn't get home and destroy the house before the appraisal. My timing was perfect... except that when I attempted to pull into our subdivision my van couldn't quite make it up the gentle slope and my wheels spun until I finally skid to a stop. Options of what to do ran through my mind, until a huge snow plow pulled up beside me, the driver jumped out and started pouring shovel fulls of sand in front of my tires. "There you go, now try again!" he told me. Shovel full after shovel full he helped me make my way up the road, much to my embarrassment. However, it was a wonderful encouragement to be shown such kindness from a stranger and the kids and I talked about it all the way home.

When I attempted to pull into the driveway, I saw the bank of snow left behind by the snow plow. Borrowing the boys imagination, I tried to turn my minivan into a rocket and fly over the pile of snow... but it didn't work. I got stuck, once again, and tires were spinning. Reassuring the kids, I ran up to the garage to grab the shovel and get the van out of the snow. Several moments later, I gleefully pulled into the garage, ran inside to throw on all the lights, make a last minute run through and listen to messages - one of which was from the appraiser and, of course, she had to cancel the appraisal. I understood - the weather was terrible - but, oh, all that time spent cleaning and tidying!!



The kids and I wasted no time grabbing our shovels and working together to, once again, clear the driveway from the continuously falling snow. Before long, our neighbor came out and was having trouble starting her snow blower; her husband was out of town and she had just received her last dose of chemotherapy for breast cancer the week before. We quickly abandoned our own driveway and got started on hers. The same neighbor who had rescued me earlier in the day also came out and helped to get her snowblower going and proceeded to clear her driveway. I visited with the neighbor, while my kids played with hers.

As I went to bed in the evening, I couldn't help but to be grateful for the many ways friends, neighbors and strangers had reached out in kindness.