The Kindness of Neighbor to Neighbor

On a typically chilly winter evening a young woman traveled with her mother and two small children along the twisting Coal Creek Canyon Road near Wondervu when her car shuddered and rolled to a stop.

While it was cold enough for some concern, she knew help would come. She called a neighbor who jumped in her car and came to the rescue.

There’s nothing terribly heroic about the simple example above, in fact, it’s a commonplace occurrence in these parts.

But, with much of the news and social media trolling centered on the negative happenings of the day it’s easy to overlook the everyday random acts of kindness that occur between neighbors and complete strangers.

When an elderly canyon resident broke her shoulder, she discovered a new friend who heard about her plight and drove her to multiple doctor’s appointments, grocery shopped for her and with the help of a friend, cleaned her cabin.

Hiding in the 24-hr storm of the news, you can still find daily glimpses of hope and happiness if you are looking for them. We’ve all experienced moments when our spirits are lifted and we’re once again reminded of the generosity and kindness of others.

When an area resident lost her father at the same time her husband contracted COVID-19 she was moved by the act of a neighbor she had just met bringing her a flower.

Later that day a woman from Whispering Pines Church showed up out of the blue with a meal for her family. “I can’t stop thinking about how gracious people are during times of need. It’s the smallest act which brings the most healing.”

Many of the small neighborhoods in Coal Creek Canyon, Nederland, and the Peak-to-Peak area have informal networks of neighbors routinely keeping an eye out for each other.

Meal trains for the sick and elderly or to welcome a newborn to the clan are evidence of these networks in action. Rides to physical therapy appointments, lending a helping hand to a fire mitigation effort, taking in a stray pet until the owner can be located and then showing up to help them fix that darn gate. And let’s not forget all the snow plowing that happens neighbor to neighbor.

Yep, that, and so much more happens all around us.

“Thank you to the gentleman that stopped and helped me with my first deer collision today. You have no idea how much you helped me, thank you!

And thank you to everyone at the Kwik Stop for letting me use the phone and hangout until CSP arrived. ❤️ Car is okay, I’m okay, one deer ran away, the other I’m not too sure, but hoping he also ran away. 😭 The kindness in the Canyon is unbelievable.”

“I would like to whole-heartedly thank the Good Samaritans who stopped to help me in the canyon on Saturday evening. These people stopped separately to help me out and help me get home, taking time out of their evenings to do so, for a stranger. It means more to me than I can say, and I wish I had your names or numbers to thank you again. I will pay your kindness forward many-fold. ❤️💪❤️💪 #heroes 🦸‍♂️🦸‍♀️”

“Thank you to all who reached out to me today I needed help and I can’t even process how many of you were willing to help I’m overwhelmed by the response ….if we could all always find the kindness and light that you all showed me today than this whole world would be as lucky as I am to be surrounded by these mountains and the people who make this canyon their home. Peace and goodnight.”

We live, many of us, on the edges of forest so I think these words attributed to Amelia Earhart make a fitting way to wrap up this idea, “A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees.”

Let’s keep celebrating the roots of our neighbors.