A helping hand in the heart of winter

Biting winds howled across the flat roads in Utah, whipping the snow with temperatures plummeting to minus 21 degrees Fahrenheit.

That was the night my dad taught me what kindness means.

My dad and I were driving home to Utah for Christmas break.

While driving south on I-15 near Heber City, Utah, we encountered a scene straight out of a winter nightmare. An elderly man, stranded in a snowdrift, his car virtually hidden in the snow, flagged us down.

My father knew he had to help. Without hesitation, he pulled over and retrieved his tow straps and trekked out into the snow.

Reaching the elderly driver, my father smiled.

“Need a hand?”

The man broke down into tears, telling us he had been waiting forever. For nearly two hours, my father battled the elements, patiently working to free the car from its icy tomb.

My father was unfazed. He patiently kept clearing the car of snow to ensure the driver’s safe passage.

With each return to our car to briefly escape the relentless cold, his determination seemed only to strengthen. His hands, red and chilled, worked the shovel with a steady grace, clearing snow from around the elderly man’s vehicle as cars whizzed by on the Interstate. The man himself stood by, wrapped in a heavy coat, his eyes wide with a mix of concern and gratitude. He occasionally offered words of “thanks” and “let me pay you”.

In the end, my father was able to free the man’s car from the snow. He drove away, waving to us as he pulled back onto the highway.

Like all parents, my mom and dad had tried to teach me the golden rule – to help to others, because someday you might need someone to help to you.

Those were just words until that frigid night on I-15.

That night I learned what kindness means without a word being spoken.

Dad dug a man’s car out of the drift. A handshake was his only payment – and the tears in the eyes of a grateful man, as he drove away, waving.

As we drove away, my dad didn’t say anything. No comment, no sermon.

The lesson was clear.

True kindness echoes loudest – in silence.