Thanking an Angel

Our shortened walk was a bit rough, only because we discovered black ice underfoot. Walking off the road where there was gravel seemed safest. It was also slowest. It took us about 45 minutes to walk what normally would take half an hour. I was relieved to get back to the house without having slipped. Although our temperatures were to rise above freezing, I was not tempted to ride the exercise bike with its built in cooling fan.

Neighbor Amy dropped in, asking if we had plenty of propane. I thought we did, but she offered to look at the gauge on our tank. She had just discovered that her tank was almost completely empty and had already gotten the promise of a delivery today. I thought we had a delivery recently, but my memory of time is quite faulty. Her verdict: either our tank was completely full or completely empty. The needle was in no man’s land. As she left, I went to find John who immediately called the gas company. He thought we hadn’t had a delivery since November. They promised to check our tank after filling Amy’s. I thought that was good insurance. It turned out to be a rescue.

I texted thanks to Amy and said it was so thoughtful of her to check on us. Back came a reply that had us falling off our chairs. She is only a few years younger than I am, and she wrote, “Well, I care about you two. AND you are always supposed to check on the elderly.” She followed that with lots of grinning happy faces.

John took a long, hot shower before going for an appointment. He was just about to leave the house when I turned on the hot water tap before showering. Only cold water came out. I’m the one who fools with the remote for the water heater, and I immediately saw an error code flashing red numbers. I think we must have run out of propane only minutes after Amy discovered we might be low.

When I saw the truck pull into Amy’s drive, I walked over to make sure the office had contacted the driver. I don’t take anything for granted after seeing our next door neighbor in New York plowed out after a blizzard, and the plow sped away without coming near our house. The man reassured me he would be right over. I met him at the tank. One peek at the gauge told him we needed a refill. As he hooked up the hose from the truck, I told him that he and Amy were angels for rescuing us. He grinned and replied, “You don’t know me very well.”

As he disengaged the hose, the man said, “You took more gas than your neighbor!”

I think we owe Amy, big time. What do you think?