By Terra Avilla
One of the very first memories I have of my dad is when I must have been three years old. He had taken my sisters and me on a hunting trip into the middle of nowhere when the weather suddenly turned and our truck became stuck in a storm of sleet and mud.
There he was, stranded with three little girls all under the age of five. At this time, there were no cell phones and he most certainly was not going to leave us alone in the truck in an attempt to try to walk out for help.
He had bought us McDonalds’ hash browns earlier but it was now dinnertime and we were hungry. I remember sitting in the cab of his truck and seeing his face filled with worry. My dad, who was always so strong and brave, was worried.
And then came the headlights. I remember bright yellow headlights headed to our truck. Another hunter driving home saw our tracks in the mud and the mysterious man came to investigate. He, along with my dad, hooked up chains to our truck and eventually were able to pull us out.
At the end of the ordeal, this man and my father were covered in mud. My dad tried to pay him but he would not take any money.
On the way home we saw a small sedan on the side of the road, with an elderly woman standing in the rain. He got out of his vehicle, still drenched in mud, and changed her tire.
On the long ride home, my dad spoke to us about how important it is to help others because there will come a time where we will rely or need the kindness of strangers. The kindness of someone we cannot pay back. Our kindness is like those headlights. Bright and an indicator of the compassion that lies within people. We as humans can pass kindness to one another.
This time of year always makes me emotional when I see that it is exactly what our community does. I am overwhelmed with what this community does for each other. How people who don’t know each other help each other.
Yes, we have our share of “grumpy grumps”, but as a community, we have an overwhelmingly large number of people who want to help and would help. We have kind people. We have giving people. We have a very strong sense of community and if you take the time to look for it among us-you will see it.
For example, on Sunday when the storm was rolling in, I cannot tell you the number of stranded or disabled motorists that the police department responded to. While we were on calls, I observed our community – helping our community.
Not doing it for accolades or for any sort of recognition, but because that is what we do in OUR community.
I drove by a vehicle being towed from the side of the roadway by another motorist, noticed it was Jason Haskill with his family. I assumed the person he was towing was someone he knew, but it turned out it wasn’t. It was a stranger. He smiled and got in his vehicle as I thanked him for helping them. He smiled and said something about doing “his good deed for the day” and drove off.
Later in the day, I observed another sweet man, hold a female’s hand as he walked across the roadway with her so she would not fall. He literally escorted her across Main Street. I watched the two of them and it moved me so much I snapped a picture of them.
Later in the day I observed a fleet of college baseball boys descend on a vehicle that was high-centered in front of Round Table and push it back into the roadway. The power of kindhearted people working for the same thing knows no bounds.
My shift ended with a call involving the man pictured below. It was freezing outside due to an onslaught of snow that was now turning into a slushy freezing mixture on the ground. This kindhearted man got down on the ground, with ice water soaking into his jeans and shirt to hook up chains on a stranger’s car who was stuck on a snow bank in the middle of the street.
I stood there trying to help as he secured the chains on the vehicle, with his hands turning beat red from the cold. As I directed traffic, countless other vehicles slowed and asked to stop. I recognized their faces. They were our community. They were the essence of everything I love about Lassen County.
Last week was a minute sampling of the goodness that goes on day in and day out of our community. Neighbors shoveling their neighbor’s driveway. Strangers stopping what they are doing to put a $5 bill in the Salvation Army tin. Kind people who offer to let me cut in line at the grocery store, because my infant is cranky and bawling. Our people coming together. Our goodhearted community. Our one-of-a-kind community.
I would like to conclude with the statement that there are so many opportunities in our community to pass the kindness on this season, and I hope you all participate. Yes. It’s amazing and charitable to donate money to our local organizations that need it. They are much-needed funds. But maybe you can’t afford to donate a toy, or even some extra canned food. That’s okay. There is so much more to being a part of our compassionate community than being able donate.
Hold the door for someone, smile at people, say thank you to people who serve your food or bag your groceries, let traffic merge into your lane. Pass that kindness along. The warm glow of those headlights that came to save my dad, sisters and me long ago still resonates with me. You can go be the “headlights” in someone else’s story. Our community’s compassion is of course what makes it the best place to raise a family and grow old and is one of the reasons I love the place we live.
