A Christmas Adventure...sort of

Our family had an unusual experience this Christmas. Some might call it a miracle, others a good coincidence. But whatever your belief system, it's a pretty good story.

My brother-in-law received a large toolbox from my sister as his big gift. It was so big, in fact, that she couldn't bring it home, so he brought my dad, me and my two brothers, and his son-in-law to pick it up from my sister's office and load it into the truck to take home.

On the way back, the six of us noticed a van on the road with smoke pouring out of it. So we pulled over to help. OK, so here's the interesting part: our family in the truck included a Fire Battalion Chief, a firefighter trainee, an ER doctor, an electrical engineer, and enough collective knowledge to put together a whole vehicle from spare parts. What's more, my brother-in-law, the fire captain, carries his dispatch radio with him all the time, so we had fire & police on the way before we had even crossed the street to help the stranded van. (MORAL: If your vehicle breaks down, you could not ask for better qualified help in one vehicle unless a fire engine was driving by.)

Fortunately, the van had only overheated and was not on fire. By the time the first police squad car arrived, the engine had stopped steaming and everything was completely under control. The mother and grown daughter in the van were just fine and so glad that we stopped to help. As we were leaving them and wishing all Merry Christmas, it seemed that just a few seconds difference, and we might not have seen them to help.

Call it what you want to, but we were glad to be there when we were. It didn't have to be Christmas Day for us to lend a hand, but not many other occasions would have put those six guys in one vehicle (especially when that vehicle includes a radio with a direct link to a fire station). Don't worry, I'm not going to write to Hallmark to make a TV movie...it wasn't that dramatic. But for two strangers, at least, we saved Christmas, and that felt pretty special.