Paying it Forward

At this time of year it is always nice to hear a "Christmas Story" that demonstrates our "goodwill" to one another.  This real life Christmas story was especially touching for me as I am aware of it because one of the "main characters" in the story is my niece, Brook Grant.
On a frigid Friday early this month, a woman was walking along a road in Cody Wyoming, loaded down with bags of groceries, a gallon of milk in one hand and a gallon of water in the other. Driving by, Brook Grant, my neice,   noticed the woman, whom she had seen walking frequently, but only in the summer.
Brook is a busy wife and mother of five young children, but feeling for the woman as the cold wind blew her, she stopped  and offered the woman a ride, and learned her story as they talked.
The woman is a single mother with a young son, and she couldn’t afford a vehicle. Rather than complaining, the woman just accepted the situation and looked forward to the future.
“She’s a hardworking mom who is doing her very best,” Brook said.
"She told me that they planned to camp all summer to save money and then purchase a car."
“After I dropped her off I couldn’t stop thinking about how positive she was and how polite her son was, and as I drove away, tears came to my eyes thinking about this lady.”
A few days later, after seeing the woman and her child walking again, Brook started a Facebook group called “Paying it forward.” On the page, she described the woman’s situation.
“I still think about her every time I get in my warm car or even walk out to get the mail and I am cold for the few seconds I am outside,” she wrote.
Brook and her husband, Keith, came up with a plan to buy the woman a car and invited Facebook friends to help.
“Can you imagine how happy she will be if we show up at her door with a car and the necessities she needs?” Brook wrote on her Facebook page.
Brook was surprised at  how fast the  word spread, and she soon received messages, phone calls and donations from Powell, Cody, Lovell and around the Big Horn Basin.  (in Wyoming)
Last Thursday afternoon — less than two weeks after she first offered the woman a ride — Brook handed her the keys to a car of  her own including  a full tank of gas.
“She was really shocked,” Brook said. “She asked, ‘How many thank you cards do I need to write?’”
Brook said she  was surprised by the whole situation, too.  Sne never expected things to happen so fast.
Many of the donations came from people who have financial struggles of their own, she said.  A $2 donation came from a little girl who told her mom she wanted to help.
They were able to purchase the car at cost from Midway Auto Sales in Lovell, operated by Brook’s brother-in-law, Ken Grant.
Donations also went toward insurance payments, registration and fuel.
With the whole story unfolding right before Christmas, this experience has added to Brooks holiday joy as well as others.
When she was growing up, Brook was on the receiving end of Christmas generosity.
“We always had secret Santas and people helping us, I couldn’t wait until I would have a turn to give back ...
“I just feel like we’ve had angels watching over my family my whole life, and now it’s my turn to help,”  “I always dreamt of being a part of something like this.”
A “Paying it Forward” account has been set up at First Bank of Wyoming, and Brook said the group will continue to help this woman and may expand the effort to help others, too.
We’ll see where it goes,” she said.
Recalling the woman’s joy as she received the car she needed, Brook said without hesitation, “it’s definitely been the best Christmas I’ve ever had.”

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