We have a good middle aged nieghbor couple here in our little town . They don't have much and she will be the first to step up and volunteer in our area to help folks .
The bad news is her husband is dying of cancer .
Just after Christmas the had a house fire that did quite a bit of damage . Since then she has been dealing with Insurance adjusters and trying to find someone to help rebuild .
The other day she stopped by and asked me if I could look over the fire bid that the Insurance agent adjuster prepared for them .
This type of work was a large part of my business many years ago . I was very surprized what a great job the adjuster had done in figuring in everything that needed to be done . This guy was very fair in my book .
She talked with our 1 local contractor and he is completely booked out in work for the whole year already . She had some guy , she does not know , call her and tell her that he would be there to start in the morning !
I told her to tell the guy to pack it . Any contractor doing the work would be a out of towner coming over 75 miles to get here .
Anyway she asked if there was anyway I would consider putting my tool belt back on, comming out of retirement again and doing the job . It is about 3 months of work .
They have always hoped to make some changes in the house for him to get around a little easier .
After setting down and talking about changes and upgrades they could make and keep the cost under the insurance repair amount I saw him start to smile a little . Its been a long time since i seen that .
He seemed to have a spark in is eyes when I told them to give me a Christmas wish list of everything they wanted in the house to make it work for them .
They asked if the window in the bedroom could be made bigger ? If I could fix the front door from binding ?Was I really going to have all their belonging cleaned and stored and she did not have to do it ? How could I give them Tile counter tops in the kitchen when it had only been Formica . Could she really have a new kitchen sink ? Could they really have a handicap tiolet ? Could they really have a color paint on the wall other than white ? Was I really going to upgrade the electrical to a new system with circuit breakers instead of screw in fuses ?? Was I really sure I could do this on the funds the insurance company had approved ? Could she really have a spice rack like I made in my kitchen at home . Could I really put in a wheel chair ramp so he could still be mobile as the diease takes its toll ?
And the last request .... which had me choked up . Was it even possible to have a little "Fire pit" on the old deck where they could sit in the evening ??
Man , I gotta tell you .... You sometimes don't realize how lucky you are until you see what these folks go through every day .
I told them to keep doing there Christmas list homework and I would call them on Monday to see how they were doing .
I have not seen him get up and walk in a few months , but last night as I was leaving he came to the door and told me
" Al, you do know you have the job , if you want it " .
I just smiled and told him not to worry about it anymore . You could see the relief in her eyes when she said thank you . Toughest lady I ever met !
As I drove home it was hard not to cry . That doing something so simple as making home repairs could put a smile on a dying man face .
This morning it is still affecting me as I write this . I just wanted to share this and show the strength that some folks still have in this world . I am damn humbled to even be allowed to help.
I can damn well bet you that this home repair will be more than they could ever imagine , That Christmas wish list is going to become a reality come hell or high water .
And yes ... they will get that little fire pit on their little deck .
You know folks..... It does not matter what this day has in store for me .
For the first time in quite a while , I have a grin on my face knowing what I am about to do .
The bad news is her husband is dying of cancer .
Just after Christmas the had a house fire that did quite a bit of damage . Since then she has been dealing with Insurance adjusters and trying to find someone to help rebuild .
The other day she stopped by and asked me if I could look over the fire bid that the Insurance agent adjuster prepared for them .
This type of work was a large part of my business many years ago . I was very surprized what a great job the adjuster had done in figuring in everything that needed to be done . This guy was very fair in my book .
She talked with our 1 local contractor and he is completely booked out in work for the whole year already . She had some guy , she does not know , call her and tell her that he would be there to start in the morning !
I told her to tell the guy to pack it . Any contractor doing the work would be a out of towner coming over 75 miles to get here .
Anyway she asked if there was anyway I would consider putting my tool belt back on, comming out of retirement again and doing the job . It is about 3 months of work .
They have always hoped to make some changes in the house for him to get around a little easier .
After setting down and talking about changes and upgrades they could make and keep the cost under the insurance repair amount I saw him start to smile a little . Its been a long time since i seen that .
He seemed to have a spark in is eyes when I told them to give me a Christmas wish list of everything they wanted in the house to make it work for them .
They asked if the window in the bedroom could be made bigger ? If I could fix the front door from binding ?Was I really going to have all their belonging cleaned and stored and she did not have to do it ? How could I give them Tile counter tops in the kitchen when it had only been Formica . Could she really have a new kitchen sink ? Could they really have a handicap tiolet ? Could they really have a color paint on the wall other than white ? Was I really going to upgrade the electrical to a new system with circuit breakers instead of screw in fuses ?? Was I really sure I could do this on the funds the insurance company had approved ? Could she really have a spice rack like I made in my kitchen at home . Could I really put in a wheel chair ramp so he could still be mobile as the diease takes its toll ?
And the last request .... which had me choked up . Was it even possible to have a little "Fire pit" on the old deck where they could sit in the evening ??
Man , I gotta tell you .... You sometimes don't realize how lucky you are until you see what these folks go through every day .
I told them to keep doing there Christmas list homework and I would call them on Monday to see how they were doing .
I have not seen him get up and walk in a few months , but last night as I was leaving he came to the door and told me
" Al, you do know you have the job , if you want it " .
I just smiled and told him not to worry about it anymore . You could see the relief in her eyes when she said thank you . Toughest lady I ever met !
As I drove home it was hard not to cry . That doing something so simple as making home repairs could put a smile on a dying man face .
This morning it is still affecting me as I write this . I just wanted to share this and show the strength that some folks still have in this world . I am damn humbled to even be allowed to help.
I can damn well bet you that this home repair will be more than they could ever imagine , That Christmas wish list is going to become a reality come hell or high water .
And yes ... they will get that little fire pit on their little deck .
You know folks..... It does not matter what this day has in store for me .
For the first time in quite a while , I have a grin on my face knowing what I am about to do .