Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 7, 1995 TAG: 9503070062
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KATHLEEN WILSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
One woman even called to complain that there was a deadline for kindness stories.
There doesn't have to be. Be on the lookout for the best in others, and many thanks to all of the strangers out there who make this world a better place during the strangest of circumstances.
``Help! My heifer's in labor, and I'm going to miss my bus to the Big Apple!''
``Retirement came in 1991,'' writes Willis Webb, ``and my wife and I were enjoying our mountain farm. More mountain than farm.''
The two had long dreamed of traveling to see more of this country, so when the summer of `92 rolled along, Willis signed up himself and his wife for a bus tour to New York.
At 5 a.m. on the day the Webbs were to leave, Willis took one last look at the cattle and discovered a heifer starting to have a calf. Her first.
She should have been watched, and if necessary, assisted with the delivery. But the Webbs were to leave in about an hour, and if often takes at least a couple of hours for a calf to deliver.
Willis called a neighbor. No answer. He didn't want to bother a veterinarian unless absolutely necessary.
Whom to call?
He'd only recently met J.C. Poff of Christiansburg when he sold him some calves from the herd.
``At the time, Poff said if I needed help any help any time to call.
``I barely knew him, but I called - waking him up - and when he heard what was going on he said he'd be at the farm in 30 minutes.''
Poff also said he would watch the heifer and assist if needed, and if the calf didn't make it he would get another baby calf for the heifer to raise.
``Just catch that bus,'' he told them over the phone.
The Webbs passed Poff on the road to town to catch the bus, relieved to know the heifer was in good hands.
``When we checked into the hotel in New York, the clerk congratulated us. There was a message that we were the grandparents of a new girl.
``We tried several times to repay him by taking him and his wife out to dinner. He seems to busy. But he wasn't too busy that morning.
``We will never forget that he helped us meet the tour bus and see New York City.''
``Sister, can you spare an umbrella?''
Carole Dalton was chilled to the bone by the time she got to the corner of Moorman and 10th Street in Northwest Roanoke. The wind was blustery, and it was sleeting, and she was on her way to catch her bus after work.
A young woman and her son stopped at a red light opened their car window and offered Carole an umbrella. ``I didn't want to take it because I had to way of returning it,'' she writes.
Then the young woman offered Carole a ride downtown to Valley Metro because she was sure she'd missed her bus. Just as she was about to take the woman up on her offer, the bus pulled up, late because of the bad weather.
``I feel like I should thank her properly,'' writes Carole. ``Not many people would pick up a stranger. She was kind and I want to say thank you.
``But I have no idea what her name is.''
Stick in the mud in the worst of all places ...
Yvonne and Greg Brooks of Roanoke were taking a quick trip to Bedford to take a quick look at some property they were buying at the top of a mountain near Webster Road and Va. 607.
It had rained that morning, and the Brookses were driving on muddy, undeveloped terrain they both would have described as a ``gentle slope.''
``By the time we decided not to go any further, it was too late,'' they write. ``My Chrysler New Yorker was stuck in the mud and could not go back up that incline, which no longer looked like a `gentle slope'!''
Branches under the wheels. Rocking and rolling, back and forth. Back and forth. Always to start over. Even walking and slipping down a side road to carry two buckets of gravel from below to try to give some friction to the wheels.
The two were exhausted and totally mud-covered when they knew it was time to abandon the car and start the long walk up the not-so-gentle slope to find some real help.
``Not many people live out there.''
Finally, Merrill Noreen of Blue Ridge appeared.
He took the couple to his home where he and his wife, Gail, let them wash up, dressed them in clean clothes, let them use the phone to call for help, offered them lunch, and then even drove the two back to U.S. 460 to meet a friend who was coming to help.
``We will always be thankful to Merrill and Gail Noreen of Blue Ridge for the kindness, friendliness and help they gave us that day.''
Thanks to the guy who works at Jumbo's!
On Thursday, Jan. 26, Kathy Smith was driving her children home when she got a flat tire in Oak Grove Plaza.
She pulled into a parking place and was about to go phone for help when a young man offered to change the tire for her.
``I didn't even have the time to ask him,'' she writes. He was very careful and did a great job. And as he changed the tire, yet another person stopped by and offered to help.
Kathy didn't get his name, but does remember that he said he was on his way to work at Jumbo's.
``I really appreciate his help! Kindness is alive and well in Roanoke.''
World's greatest waitress
The best thing about the Brown Derby Pancake House on Peters Creek Road isn't the grits, the coffee or the hash browns.
It's JoAnn Taylor.
This is the second year in a row the Kindness Revolution has been alerted to JoAnn's supreme talents as a waitress.
``Just before Christmas I was in a very sour, depressed, `don`t have enough money for the holidays blue funk mood,' '' writes this year's fan.
``She was so attentive and nice, and she gave me extra syrup, which made me feel special. ... Not only did she bring me good food and extra syrup that day, but she served up a whole lot of good feelings to go along with my pancakes!''
An angel from nowhere with wings on his feet
She was in the process of helping her sister transfer from the car into a wheelchair when runner appeared from nowhere and asked if he could help.
He put her in the wheelchair, wheeled her up the walk to the front door of the apartment and when he discovered that she lived on the second floor, he said, ``I can take her up in the wheelchair without any trouble.''
It took this young man about a minute to accomplish what her sister would have needed more than 10 to do.
``We are both senior citizens, and were and are so grateful to the young man. God bless him, whoever he is.''
``The doctor made a house call?!''
Barbara Powers' 84-year-old mother has Parkinson's disease.
When she fell recently, the family took her to a new surgeon, Dr. John Mustol in Bedford. Her arm was so swollen that he couldn't put a cast on it, and once the swelling subsided the cast would be too loose.
Knowing how uncomfortable the mother was and the problems involved for the family in getting her back and forth to the doctor, Mustol said he would just drop by the house at the end of the week and check on her arm.
``Friday came, and there was Dr. Mustol with his equipment to put the cast on Mom's arm,'' writes Barbara. ``Dr. Mustol doesn't know how much his act of kindness meant to our family.''
For the past four years, Barbara kept her 84-year-old mother and 94-year-old father home to care for them through all their sicknesses until her mom passed away in November.
``I could write an entire book about acts of kindness about the Bedford Life Saving Crew alone.''
Many good turns returned by another
Tony Rogers stopped for a burger at a fast-food place in Roanoke when the man sitting next to him fell to the floor choking.
Another customer joined Tony, who had worked many summers as a lifeguard, as the two began CPR until the rescue squad arrived.
A few weeks later the following ran in the classified ads: ``To the two young men who saved my husband's life, I am so very grateful,'' Dr. R. Earle and Mrs. Glendy.
It turns out that Tony's grandmother was a patient of Dr. Glendy's, and that he had saved her live on more than one occasion.
``How often does a family get the chance to repay a doctor in this way?'' asks Tony's mother, Audrey Rogers, of Cloverdale.
They saved a school bus ...
Deanna Parrish was driving a Roanoke County school bus on Jan. 6 when the year's first ice storm hit.
With a dozen children still on the bus, she tried to turn off Quail Road onto Trevillian to go up a steep hill when the bus began to slide backwards.
``I had no control because of the ice. We were heading toward a small embankment and a telephone pole, and I was afraid my bus might flip.''
When the bus came to a precarious stop, she told the children to get off the bus carefully and wait in a nearby yard while she radioed for help.
Two young men came along, and while one held back the traffic, the other took an ice scrapper and started scraping paths for the wheels to follow.
``Each time he'd tell me which way to turn the wheels and it took him nearly five tries before we got the bus turned around in the street and I came out.
``Then he helped me across the slick, icy street and get my kids back on the bus to wait for the chains to be put on.''
Deanna doesn't know his name, but she would like to ``thank him for all his help at a time I really needed it.''
Only in Buchanan ...
``About mid-morning on Jan. 28, I heard a knock at my door. Sleet and snow were falling. I was greeted by a young man from my church who had come with four others with two pick-up truck loads of wood. After unloading the wood, they came in for a cup of hot coffee and homemade fresh apple cake. I enjoyed this fellowship and appreciate so much their concern and care for me, a widow who heats with wood.''
Military to the rescue ...
Gloria Hart was traveling along on U.S. 460 when her tire blew out.
``The one thing that any woman dreads when traveling alone had happened,'' she tells us.
When she opened her door, two cars had pulled in behind her. A woman who came over and offered to go for help. And a young soldier from Fort Pitt.
``I had never changed a tire in my life and appreciated not having to learn on this dangerous, heavily traveled road.''
As the soldier changed the tire, he expressed concern that Gloria did not know how to change a tire and told her that she should know how to take care of herself in a situation like this one.
``He then explained in detail everything he was doing, checking to see that I thoroughly understood. My offer to pay him when he was finished was graciously refused.
``I don't remember that any of us exchanged names. The two strangers left me with a wonderful feeling. There are good folks out there and I had a very special chance to be reminded of that.''
God bless Burger King ...
On Wednesdays, Kathie DeWeese picks up lunch for her husband at the Burger King at Cave Spring Corners.
``I always have my little boy with me, and I am always running late.''
In her usual rush on a Wednesday last month, she got to the drive-through window and was a dollar short.
``I knew I would have to to and get money from the bank and miss my husband's lunch break. When I apologized for the inconvenience, the cashier said she'd cover it.''
Kathie later returned to thank and repay the woman.
``I really appreciated her kindness and it made me want to pass some kindness around myself.''
Thanks to Nancy, wherever - and whoever - she may be ...
Josie Wilson, 90, was leaving Waverly Place Baptist Church on Jan. 20, after volunteering her time to organize the church's choir folders, when she fell.
Out of nowhere, a woman Josie only knows as ``Nancy,'' helped Josie into her van, drove her to her home and helped her into the building.
In the pain and confusion of the moment, Josie can't remember if she even thanked ``Nancy.''
Josie later discovered she'd broken her collarbone and would like very much to thank ``Nancy'' personally.
If you are Nancy, please call 981-3351 so we can put you in touch with a woman who says she won't rest until she knows she's said thank-you properly.
Dead ... again
It was the third time her car's battery had died that day.
After calling a service station for help - again - she stood in front of her blue Honda Civic in the parking lot of Towers Shopping Center waiting.
Wayne Craig, who works in the mall, hollered to see if she needed help.
She did. But she had no jumper cables.
Wayne scoured inside the mall until he found someone with a pair, then jumpstarted her car from his truck.
When she offered him some money, Wayne gallantly refused.
``Just do the same for someone else and that will be thanks enough,'' he said.
Life's greatest gift? The best of friends ...
Sharon Baxter of Roanoke says she can't remember a time she'd ever felt so depressed as she was last December.
``I lost my job in September when the company went out of business. I was denied any public assistance for food or medical, and my car had been repossessed and here was Christmas just a few weeks away.''
Sharon says normally she's the biggest kid of all during the holidays, but there she was dreading it.
Last Christmas she couldn't afford food or heat, let alone toys.
On the phone she shared her woes with a friend, Roxanne, who lives in Philadelphia.
A few days later, Sharon came home to Roxanne and her husband, Mike, who had driven seven hours to shock the Baxters with turkey and tons of food for Christmas. Firewood. And most of all, toys and Rollerblades from ``Santa.''
``Bless her heart, Roxy can hardly make ends meet in her own house, but felt more fortunate and wanted to make sure my kids had a great Christmas.
``Roxanne and Mike spent the weekend with us, then returned home leaving me with so much love and made me realize how lucky I am that I have such a good friend.''
No room at the inn, but a bed in a trailer ...
Jennifer Philie says during the dreaded ice storm of `94, ``I could have walked faster than I could move my car.''
Jennifer, who was in Danville working as a court reporter, began the drive home one evening.
But when the rain turned to ice, she lost control of her car and careened into the median strip somewhere near Martinsville.
``I was shaking and scared to death,'' she says. She managed to get the car to a nearby motel, but there was no vacancy.
When she tried to get her car out of the lot, she was stuck.
``So there I was crying and crying in the parking lot, when this man appeared from nowhere and asked `Sweetheart, what's the matter?' ''
He drove her around to every motel in the area trying to find a room, but to no avail.
So he picked up his car phone, called his wife and they put her up for the night in his 95-year-old mother's trailer.
``There was no heat or power, but I wasn't scared anymore.''
The next day, the man came and followed her back to Roanoke to make sure she got home safely.
Strangers to the rescue ...
After a recent snow, Sarah Huntley decided it was time she got out and moved her car.
``Bad decision,'' she writes.
She wound up stuck at the bottom of a hill. Worse yet, her car was jutting right out into the intersection of Winborne and Maiden Lane.
``I'd still be there today,'' she says, ``if it weren't for two nice men - both strangers - who came out of a nearby house, shovel in hand.
``With their help, we got my li'l Ford Escort rolling again. I don't know their names, but I'd sure like to say thanks-a-million.''
HELP!
Reva Lawson, 73, was sitting plumb in the middle of the wrong lane on Plantation Road ,and traffic was coming at her from everywhere.
She'd been to Crossroads Mall and accidentally wound up turning into the wrong lane.
``The cars were coming straight at me,'' she says. ``All I could do was put my hands over my face. I was terrified.''
When she finally pulled her hands down, there were a man and a woman standing on Plantation Road, stopping all the traffic, and pointing her back into the mall parking lot.
``I don't know who they are or where they came from, but I sure am grateful.''
Some overdue thanks ...
To Debra Adkins, no act of kindness is too small. Especially when you've got a 3-year-old in your car.
It was bitter cold when she pulled up to the library on Va. 419 and figured she'd just hop out of her car and drop the book in the night return box.
But it was locked.
``A woman leaving the library asked if she could help, then turned around and went back into the library to return the book for Debra.
``I sure hope it wasn't overdue and that she didn't have to pay for it!''
Blue Ridge neighbors just like family ...
Dolores White's parents, Noreen and John Friefield, have had it rough.
Noreen had a stroke five years ago. Her father has had several heart attacks.
``I don't know what I'd do without Helen McGuire and her husband,'' says Dolores. ``I live in Vinton, and Mom and Dad live in Blue Ridge. But the McGuires are always there for them.''
The McGuires, a couple in their 30s, always manage to find the time to buy milk or drop off extra fruit when they've gone to the grocery store. On occasion, they'll even make a phone call to see if the Friefields have got something to eat for supper.
``They depend on the McGuires a whole lot, and I just want to thank them for being there. They have always been there for Mom and Dad.''
It's a wonderful life on Sheffield Road ...
``We are the oldest couple on our block,'' write Sue and Bill Pace of Roanoke. When it snows, the neighbors turn out in full force to shovel out the Paces' car and clear the sidewalk.
``We certainly do appreciate the kindness and thoughtfulness of these younger people, especially since they do this on their own and not because they ask them to.
``It's because of our neighborly friends that we enjoy living on Sheffield Road.''
by CNB