Blanket of Kindness

Wednesday, November 14, 2012
 
People stopping to give hot coffee to the linemen from all over the US, neighbors cutting trees for neighbors, groups gathering boxes of diapers to bring to those displaced by the storm...all of these are examples of extraordinary kindness in the days and weeks following Hurricane Sandy.  In many ways we have been blanketed with kindness.

What are YOUR experiences with kindness during this stressful, difficult time?  Here are some inspiring, heart-warming stories shared by the ladies of Heartworks:

On the Wednesday after the storm, after we’d found help to clear some of the twelve 50-100 ft. trees that were down and blocking our lane, we woke to see a family friend climbing through the downed trees and wires to come check on us and make sure we were okay. He had brought his entire family in the car with him and it was such a wonderful sight to see his friendly face wash over with relief as he saw us come out of the house to greet him. These same friends offered up their home as a place for us to do laundry, they had us over for dinner one night and allowed me to work out of their dining room, as I had no internet access at home. They offered some sense of normalcy in what was otherwise a crazy time.

We were also very blessed two days later when another family friend, who was also without power, offered to come over and use his chainsaw to cut away much of the big tree that had taken down the telephone pole, both of which were blocking our driveway. I was so touched at his kindness, my kids were thrilled to be able to play with his kids and, thanks to the generator we had, I was relieved to be able to offer them a warm meal and a hot shower.

There were many acts of kindness I saw or heard of during the aftermath of the hurricane. Despite the inconveniences, I was came out of our 12 days without power feeling very, very lucky.

 BP

 

My husband was able to use a saw on the tree that was blocking our driveway, but we had wires dangling from trees partially blocking our driveway and the road. Before DPW could even get to our house, a neighbor came on his back hoe and took care of it.

Also, my electrician was at our house an hour after we called him in order to re-attach the electrical mast that had been ripped from the house. He did this the day after the storm hit, so that whenever JCP&L got to our house, we would be ready for them.

We had a ski team meeting in the Poconos, and I asked anyone coming to the meeting if they would like to donate any supplies that I could bring back to NJ. My husband and I then dropped these off at Trinity United Methodist Church in Hackettstown.
PD

As I receive more stories of kindness received, I will post them here!  Feel free to add yours in the comments.