Early this morning Brian let me know two things. The bad news was the girls had school. The good news was that I would have a quieter day to get some rest as I have a cold.

The morning went relatively smoothly. I got stuck for about a minute at the bottom of the driveway in the street but was able to back up and forward and not have another problem. The girls got to school on time. I made it back to the neighborhood and there was a car stuck at the beginning of his driveway, blocking most of the road so I could not get by. I took the street before him to go around only to find that a truck was completely stuck across the middle of my street and there was no one in it. So I backed up and went back to the other stuck car because I was pretty sure I could sneak by.

I saw an old man with a shovel trying to dig the car out and my heart melted. I asked if he needed help. He told me no. His grandson was on the way. I told him I would help anyway. He said he wasn’t supposed to be shoveling because he had a bad heart, having five heart attacks the past year.

I took the shovel from him and started digging him out while he rested in the car. We tried several times until all you could smell was the burning rubber from the tires that were now hitting the pavement but still not able to go anywhere.

He told me he liked the sound of my voice. It was soothing and calm and it helped him calm down. He had only left the house to pick his grandkids up and take them to school as he didn’t want them trudging through the snow. He would have never left otherwise.

I kept going back to the van to check on Alex who was just fine as long as he could see me.

A total of four cars either went another direction when they saw us or just passed us by completely. In fact I had to move my van so someone could get by, which they smiled and waved at me as they drove away out of sight.

My nose was running. I was feeling super hot, despite the fact that I had no coat on. He had me sit down in his car for a minute. He was worried that I was going to get sick. I told him I already was. He said if someone was going to fall over it should be him and not me.I got back out, checked on Alex for the last time and then got to work with the shovel again.

Finally a man from down the street came down and helped me push and he finally made it up the driveway and into his garage. I thanked the man for helping push and he said he had gotten stuck and had called into work and then he went on his way.

The old man thanked me as I handed him the shovels I had used to dig out his tires. He started crying, saying it was so nice of me to help when not many would because they were too busy. He told me he had six kids and 23 grandchildren. He loved kids and if I ever needed someone to watch mine even last minute to knock on his door, he would most likely be there.

I gave him a hug. Told him it had been no problem and I was glad to have helped. Got in my van and made it safely home right around the corner.

I can’t wait until it gets warmer and we go on walks around the neighborhood, because I want to visit him.

I sit here now barely being able to type. My arms and hands are so very sore.

It was worth it though.

A friend of mine posted a quote on her Facebook today. I think it fits perfectly.

Be kind and remember everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle -Jan Maclaren

Who have you been kind to lately?

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