B.J. Palmer wrote, “You never know how far reaching something you think, say, or do today will affect the lives of millions tomorrow.”
On Wednesday, as I pulled onto the property, after having survived a long day at work, I noticed something sitting at my front door. “What da? What in the world is that?” As I got closer to my door, I noticed it was two plates neatly wrapped in some sort of self-adhesive opaque cellophane, stacked on each other. “What’s in here?” After shaking off my boots and putting up my coat, I opened the wrapping and was greeted with a slice of cake in one plate and full-blown meal in the other. A smile quickly overcame me as I proceeded to grab a fork and dig into the much welcome meal.
Mountain folk hospitality really is a thing. I knew it was neighbors who left that for me. From day one, they’ve been nothing short of amazing and hospitable. They’re always quick to greet me when they see me and vice versa. We never take up too much of each other’s time but take up just enough time to exchange pleasantries and other words of courtesy.
When I got home that night, it was well past 1am. Not being big on showing up unannounced and knocking on someone’s door, I reckoned I will thank them when I run into them. The following morning, Thursday, didn’t present an opportunity to run into them before I had to go to work, so I just reconciled I’ll do it the next day. Friday came and went with pretty much the same outcome. All day Saturday it rained and struck down any chance I might have of running into them. By now I was getting a bit anxious. I didn’t want to be thought of as some ingrate. I really needed to do something.
This morning, Sunday, I woke up to the tune of my usual routine and headed out the door. I was determined to not let this day go by without some sort of thank you. I went to the store and bought a thank you card. In it, I wrote:
This is long overdue. I’m not one to knock on someone’s door unannounced, so was hoping I’d run into you these past couple of days to personally thank you for the meal you left at my front door. The universe, however, had different intentions than me.
After the long day at work, coming home to a meal was just what I needed to put a smile on my face. You have no idea how grateful I am for the gesture.
Thank you so much.
I placed the card in a zip-lock bag and placed it on the windshield of one of their vehicles.
So, yes, B.J. Palmer is correct. My neighbors had no idea how grateful I was for their gesture any more than I’ll know how they felt when they opened their card.
