The Kindness of Neighbors

It’s not unusual to get snow up in Maine before January, although the flip side is it’s also not unusual to have no snow before January. This past week we were hit with two storms, one Saturday night into Sunday and then another Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. Weekend storms are the best because, truth be told I don’t have to drive in them. I can take my time clearing the driveway, clearing off my car, etc. During the workweek; however, it’s a different story. Luckily Mom and dad have an attached garage that the car can sit in, a must have when living in a cold climate in my opinion.

I woke up Wednesday morning knowing I would have just enough time to clear the end of the driveway to get the car out (as the town had already plowed the street once and the snow was piled up at the end). There was no way I was getting up any earlier to clear the whole driveway with either the shovel or snow blower. Besides, I don’t think the neighbors would have appreciated a loud snow blower at 4 am and my back wouldn’t have appreciated shoveling all that snow and then sitting at work for 9 hours. I figured I would take care of it when I got home and planned a simple dinner, so I could focus on the driveway afterwards.

When I pulled up to the house after work I noticed the driveway was clear, the walkway to the front door was clear. I went inside and asked Mom and Dad who cleared it. It was Gene, their next door neighbor. I asked, did he call beforehand or stop in afterwards? They said he did not. He just came over and snowplowed the driveway and walkway and then went home. A real Mainer, with a great story to tell about seemingly everything and every time you see him, Gene is retired and older than both my parents.  Not only did he have one of his knees replaced earlier this year (with the 2^nd one needing a replacement sometime in the new year) he is also taking care of his wife and their house and yard by himself. I called Gene to thank him, as he didn’t have to do this kindest of gestures. Always the joker, he said it wasn’t him, it was the turkeys (we have a decent sized flock that comes through both our backyards almost daily). I joked back that it was good thing I was putting feed out for them then! In all seriousness though, I thanked him from the bottom of my heart, because it wasn’t so much for Mom and Dad’s benefit that he had done this (they were in for the rest of the week, until Friday afternoon when there were a couple of appointments to go to), it was for my benefit. Knowing the situation and the nature of me trying to do it all, he did it just so I didn’t have to when I got home. It was one less thing for me to worry about and one of the best surprises ever.  

I have been so blessed to have gotten to know some incredible people during this experience following Dad’s stroke. Gene is certainly one of them and has helped restore what had been tested, my faith in the good that I know is inherently in all of us. It does exist.