ANGELS IN THE SNOW

The BIG blizzard we were expecting turned out to be not such a big deal. The ice predicted didn’t come. Just snow. A whopping 9 inches. Nothing to scoff at, I realize. But those winds gusting at 35 to 50 mph never showed up either. So there wasn’t a lot of blowing and drifting snow across the roadways. However we still got up to a Level 2 emergency. Which means don’t go out on the roads if you don’t have to. Fortunately, the power stayed on throughout the storm. And life went on as normal despite the heavy snowfall. TV and computers, as usual kept us occupied and entertained. That is of course… until the next morning… when I opened the front door. It took my breath away. I stood there looking at the beauty of the season, thanking Mother Nature for this  glorious winter wonderland. And then suddenly realized, we needed to dig out. We were prisoners, stuck in place until we did that. My hubby is 83. He physically is in no condition to do the heavy lifting involving a snow shovel. (Especially with his breathing problems, heart issues and spine complications.) BUT, frankly neither am I in a position to do anything to clear away the snow. A bad back, geriatric osteoporosis, arthritis, polymalagia rheumatica, etc has sidelined me too and that’s that. During the thirty six years we have lived here, few if any of the neighbors have offered to help, when my hubby worked out of town and I was here all alone. Even if we were willing to pay. The couple across the street has pitched in during the warmer months to mow the grass in the past few years. And they’ve  been a god send. I give them gift cards for their efforts. But with all this snow I figured we were on our own to take care of it, since they never volunteered to assist us during winter months. Finding someone to do the job would be difficult because they’d deem it too small a job to tackle. To us it’s a mountain too high to climb. As I contemplated that fate and tried to figure out what to do next… I went about my business, depressed by the notion, we’d be stuck in place for a while... until rising temps melted the snow away. But the weatherman burst my bubble explaining frigid temps... only in the teens or below were sticking around. Not good news at all. No melting snow. But it is what it is. We’d cope because others are in far worse shape. The day came and went and sometime during the evening I heard noises outside. After a certain time of night, we don’t ever open the front door, because of the 'crazy two men' breaking into the house, a few years back. We had been traumatized by that situation. Since then… If something happens, the door remains locked and we call 911. This noise and the voices out there now were persistent… before I called the police… I tried to peek out the window to see if I could see what was going on? There was a man in the driveway, on the other side of the van and a woman with a ponytail near our sidewalk. I couldn’t see what they were doing, but for some reason, at this odd, late night hour… I took a leap of faith thinking they didn’t appear to be threatening. So I walked away from the window and sat down on the sofa. I hoped I made the right decision and tried not to worry. My hubby was sleeping and I decided not to wake him up. Eventually… the voices and the noise outside… died down and disappeared. I was relieved. But... before I could get ready for bed… curiosity overwhelmed me. I went to the front door and opened it a crack, and indeed the couple appeared to be gone. So… I threw caution to the wind… and opened the door a little farther, then stepped out on the stoop. I drew in my breath, as I looked around. I realized with absolute certainty that we had been visited by a pair of Snow Angels. Heaven sent. Our sidewalk, porch and driveway were completely shoveled. What an amazing gift, these two strangers in the night, had given us. I’ve been disillusioned of late, feeling the world was full of more hateful rhetoric, than not. But this gesture of kindness has touched my heart and shown me, I must not despair. There is HOPE. GOOD people are out there. I hope we can awaken the masses and pass this GOODNESS on. It’s a glorious thing. PEOPLE helping people. Imagine that? No strings attached. KINDNESS. PASS IT ON!