Help on the coldest, snowiest & Iciest day of the year.

The Hero Living Next Door

It was a wintry mix and icy this morning!  I knew it would be this way, but I was driving on the roads anyway.  I had two important appointments.  Luckily, the roads weren’t too bad yet.  And, not long after beginning my journey, I came to a stop at a traffic signal where I read a sticker on the back window of the car in front of me.

“I hope something good happens to you today.”

The chill left my body as I read.  It was chased away by the smile widening on my face.

“A post-prophetic statement!  It already has!” I whispered as if there existed someone near me listening.  There was not one other person there in my car.  Happily, there was one good person at my door earlier this morning.

Harry Pupper was barking while doing his very best Lassie impersonation to let us know there was someone at our front door about 7:30 am.  We were at a loss as to who it could be.

“Who would be out in this frightful arctic-blast-storm?”  I said to my wife as Harry was acting as “Lassie-the-hero” to prompt us forward. Upon their arrival at the front door Sue carefully held Harry with one hand and turned the deadbolt with the other, so they could be greeted by a real-life hero.  Our next-door neighbor, Chris Hand.

“Would you like me to put some salt on your driveway?”  Chris asked with a friendly smile on his face.

“That would be very kind of you!  Thank you for thinking of us!” She answered.

Chris then went about spreading salt on our front steps, sidewalk and driveway, while we enjoyed the comfortable warmth of our home. Shortly thereafter, I left our house and benefited from his goodness by enjoying an ice-free glide down toward the road and my appointments.

Now I’m back inside my home and the arctic blast is blustering away out there!  The wind is howling, the snow is blowing and it feels as if it is -17 below freezing outside!  And, my car is tucked comfortable into its garage spot, outside the ravages of the raging, perhaps once in a life-time storm.

“Stop looking for heroes on television and look at your neighbors to find real heroes!”  I read in an advisory commentary a couple of weeks ago.

This morning I was reading the sky outside. It was a wintry mix and icy early this morning and it’s much worse now!  I knew it would be this way, but I was out driving on the roads anyway.  I had two important appointments.  Luckily, the roads weren’t too bad yet.  And, not long after beginning my journey I came to a stop at a traffic signal where I read a sticker on the back window of the car in front of me.

“I hope something good happens to you today.”

The chill left my body as I was reading.  It was chased away by the smile widening on my face as I thought of my neighbor-hero, Chris Hand.  He’s a retired US Marine and my personal, neighborhood, hero as well.