The Lord works in mysterious ways, and that has definitely been the case for Mom and me the last few days, between the winter storm passing through over the weekend and what it left behind, which was roughly a quarter of an inch of ice on our sidewalk, front patio, and driveway.
Charlotte was fortunate in many ways. We ended up getting more sleet than freezing rain, which helped keep power outages in the area to a minimum. But slick roads and sidewalks remained.
Fortunately, on Monday, the weather was such that the roads and the parts of the sidewalk and driveway that got sunlight for most of the day were melting, slushing, and clearing up pretty nicely. As I mentioned in my previous VIP on the storm, one of our neighbors even went around the 'hood with his tractor and a plow attachment, and cleared the slush off the roads. He (without us asking) also cleared off what he could of our driveway, something he would do for mom and dad in prior years when there was a winter storm like this that rolled around.
READ MORE (VIP): Caregiver's Diary Part 70: Post-Storm Update and Things I Learned
As I also mentioned before, my exterior storm prep involved putting a tarp right at the front door to make the area closest to the door easier to clear off after the storm. I also put out some of that "ice melt" stuff on the rest of the sidewalk leading to the cars.
The tarp helped, but the ice melt? Not so much. The roughly 6' by 6' area beyond the tarp had about a quarter-inch-thick layer of ice on it that would not budge, because that area gets almost no sunlight during the day.
I had no luck trying to clear it off on Tuesday, so I decided that on Wednesday, when it was going to be slightly warmer and sunnier, I'd try again - and this time I was putting the ice melt ON the ice itself, something I learned from YouTube was one way to get it to get slushy enough to shovel.
On Wednesday morning, there was a sense of urgency involved because a) I was starting to go stir crazy and b) it was imperative to get a path cleared so I could get mom to the car safely in the event of an emergency.
So, armed with more ice melt, a shovel, a hoe, and a wing and a prayer, I went out there and probably made Yukon Cornelius proud (assuming he was watching from above, hopefully with my dad) as I stabbed at the ice, which mercifully was showing signs it was ready to give up the fight.
Eventually, I got a suitable path cleared to the car, stopping by the passenger side (which was closest to the house since I typically back the car in) to make sure it was completely clear for mom to get in the car okay if need be.
I went back inside after that, exhausted but damned proud. But I barely had a chance to catch my breath when there was a knock at the door. I didn't recognize the person, but Mom did. It was the neighbor with the tractor who had been so helpful to mom, dad, and the neighborhood over the years, but who had not been seen in the 'hood in a long time outside of this past weekend.
Long story short, the neighbor (who we'll call "Joe" and who lives deeper into the 'hood than we do) had been leaving the neighborhood when he'd seen me out hacking at the ice on the sidewalk like a woman possessed, and had turned around to offer to clear off the remaining part of the sidewalk for me.
Since mom knew and trusted him, I thanked him profusely and told him I would love the help.
"Oh, you don't have to help. I'll take care of it," he informed me with a grin.
I wasn't sure if he was being gentlemanly or was like my dad in that he worked best alone - or perhaps it was a combination of both - but I was not gonna turn the offer down.
So he went back to his house, got the tools he needed, and came back. I didn't bother him while he worked. I let him do his thing, and within about 10-15 minutes, the remaining ice on the sidewalk was gone. He totally would have made my RedState colleague Ward Clark, the Great Lander himself, proud. I know I was pretty impressed with the work.
Joe even went to the passenger side of the car and cleared off even more of the ice in a way that made it safer for me to put things (like mom's walker) in the back seat. He cleared off what was left of the ice and snow on the windshield of the car and tried to get the ice on the driver's side of the driveway cleared, but it was still solid.
Throughout all of this, I left him alone, but when he made his way back around the car and headed towards the front door, I came outside to talk to him and thank him again.
We ended up striking up a conversation, and without going into too much detail, I found out that he, too, had been a caregiver to both parents and that that's why he'd not been seen in the neighborhood for a while - because he'd packed up and gone to where they were. He'd been back for a few years, but became the self-described "neighborhood recluse" in the process, preferring to keep to himself.
Because I told him I was now mom's caregiver, he gave me tips on caregiving and also on clearing ice ;) and ended up coming back about two hours later, once the sun had beaten down a little more on that tough ice patch by the car, and picked away at it until it was gone. Again, he refused my help but seemed to welcome the conversation. He also left me an extremely useful tool for hacking away at ice that he said I could keep for future use, because he "had tons of them."
Talk about a blessing. I'm still floored by everything he did. And before he left, he told me that after we get the snow we're expecting this coming weekend, he'd come by and clear the sidewalk for us if need be.
I feel like his showing up to do all of that was an answer to prayer, because I didn't have it in me to do all the extra work that he did. In the process, he was able to reconnect with mom a bit (who thinks the world of him and vice versa - mom has that effect on people), and I made a friend in the process, one who would be willing to lend a hand in future storms.
Life truly can be overwhelming, an uphill climb sometimes, but it's nice to be reminded every once in a while that there are still plenty of good people in the world who are willing to offer help even in instances where it's not sought out. Thank you, Jesus, for the blessing - and the reminder.
DIVE DEEPER: To check out my previous Caregiver's Diary entries, please click here. Thank you!
