We had been driving for an hour after spending the day with my parents, sister, and her husband.
Normally we invited our parents to spend thanksgiving dinner at one of our homes, but this year my parents were having health issues that made it hard for them to go out at night.
So, we decided to make the dinner including the turkey and bring it to them. It was a particularly busy week at work for both my friend and I.
Add the preparations for taking everything we needed for the dinner left us feeling exhausted. We couldn’t wait to get home.
We were about twenty minutes away from home…
when pulling up to a stop light our caravan died. It stopped a little before reaching the intersection in an area where there were no streetlights.
It was late and there weren’t that many cars on the road.
I felt like we were sitting ducks just waiting for a car to come up on us with a driver not paying attention.
We tried to turn on the flashers, they didn’t work. Not even the inside cabin lights worked. There was no way to warn anyone we were there.
Luckily our cell phone worked, and we called an auto service for a tow.
Being a holiday night we figured there would be a wait.
“Are you on the side of the road?” the agent asked.
“No…” I answered, “We’re in the middle of a dark road a couple of yards from a light.”
“Put your flashers on…” they began but I interrupted them.
“None of our lights outside or inside our van are working and we have no flares.”
“Ok, we will get there as soon as we can.” The agent replied and then hung up.
I lifted the back door of our caravan searching our trunk to see if we had a flashlight. Thinking maybe with the lifted tail gate, it would make our van a bigger target to notice for anyone driving up on us.
The temperatures were in the teens and the wind temps were below zero. My teeth were chattering, and my leg muscles were twitching from the cold. It was not a good night to be stuck outside.
In a couple of minutes, we saw a car coming at us fast and we both held our breath as it neared us. At the last minute it swerved around us and kept going. Another one was coming, and I felt sick to my stomach that we were going to get hit.
But this one slowed down as it neared us and pulled up directly behind us. They put their car flashers on and opened their car doors.
I was grateful that we weren’t a target anymore.
But two women broken down on the road late at night made us feel somewhat vulnerable and a little leery of who was getting out of the car.
As the older man and woman got out of the car, we both felt some relief.
“It’s a heck of a night to be broke down.” The man said as
he and the woman neared us. “You two, okay?”
“The van just stopped. Nothings working. We called Triple A, but they said it will be a while.” I said as another car pulled up behind his car and put their flashers on. A younger man got of his car and walked over to us.
“Are you folks, okay?” he asked all of us.
“Their van broke down.” The first man said.
“Do you think we could move it off to the side of the road…I’m nervous sitting in the middle of a dark road.” I asked.
They both agreed. After closing the tailgate, both men and I got behind the van and pushed it off to the side of the road before any other cars came.
After thanking them both, the young man got in his car and drove off while the older man and woman stood behind our caravan.
“How long did they say it would take them to get here?” the man asked.
“At least an hour.” I answered.
“Well, you can’t stay out here tonight. You’ll get frostbite.” The woman said. “We live right over the hill.”
“Yes.” the man added, “You can wait there until they call you and then we’ll bring you back to your car.”
The woman touched my arm, “And it will be a lot warmer than on the side of the road.”
I looked at my friend. We both knew we would have to trust these two strangers. Climbing into their back seat my friend and I gave each other a look that said let’s be cautious.
In a couple of minutes, we pulled up to the man and woman’s home.
Inside the man lite a fire in their fireplace and they served us hot tea and cookies.
Husband and wife, they were returning from thanksgiving dinner with their children when they saw us on the road.
The man said he always believed in paying it forward. We knew what he meant.
My friend and I were always doing small things to help out others when we could because it was something we believed in.
It was nice to be on the receiving end when we needed it.
As we were finishing our tea, the auto service called. They were on their way.
As promised the man said he would take us back to our van. His wife was going to stay at home. We thanked them both for being so kind.
Today I am grateful for the kindness of strangers.
Back at the van, the mechanic tried to jump start the van, but it wouldn’t start. As he was hooking up our van to be towed, he told us he would drop our van off at the gas station.
When I asked him if he could drop us off at our home, he didn’t say anything as he finished hooking up the car.
“You can ride with me to the gas station, and I’ll drop you off at your house.” The husband said.
I think it was at that moment as I looked at this stranger who was going out of his way to make sure we got home safe, that God was clearly looking out for us.
We followed the tow truck to the gas station and then the husband drove us to our home fifteen minutes away.
As we were getting out of his car he said, “Happy Thanksgiving you two. I hope the rest of the day was a good one.”
“It was.” I said, “And you just made sure it was a good night. Thank you so much.”
Find more stories like these in my new book
“Under The Influence Of Gratitude”
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