Countdown to Christmas: Day 10 - Angels Among Us

At this time of year, I always love to hear heartwarming stories of the love and kindness that other people display. 

                      stories of communities coming together to support the family of a sick child ...

                     stories of soldiers returning home from deployment and being reunited with their families ...

                    stories of a stranger paying off a mortgage for a struggling family ...

The stories don't all have to be so big though.  Simple acts of kindness, random acts of kindness, are never too small.  For example, there's an angel in our neighborhood. 

Every time it snows, I set my alarm to get up a little earlier so that I can shovel the drive, get the car cleared off, and make a path for the girls to get to the bus stop.  But most snowy mornings I come downstairs to find that our sidewalk has already been done.

And not just our sidewalk, but the entire block's sidewalks, as far as the eye can see in both directions.

I've never been able to figure out exactly who does it.  Usually in the morning it's a single path right down the center of the sidewalk.  Then, later in the day, the mystery snow blower might come back out to clear a second path.  Sometimes I hear the snow blower as it passes our house, but I never get to see who is behind it.  And I've waited for it to come by on the return pass, but it seems that he goes around the entire block and never comes past our house again.

Well, today I caught a glimpse of the elusive good Samaritan out my window.

Now that I know who it is, I know who to thank. 

A small act of kindness might mean a whole lot more to the recipient than you know.  And to this busy mom of 3 who is often parenting alone while her husband is out of town for work?  Having a clear sidewalk is just one less thing for me to worry about.  And I really appreciate that.