Christmas in the Mountains

I went home for the holidays every other year to spend the season with my family and some friends. This year was no different…until I was on my way home. I was traveling with my just turned two year old back from Illinois to Virginia through the mountains of West Virginia. It was 2 days before Christmas and I was anxious to get back to my wife and celebrate Christmas with her and her family.

Well, just as I got onto the turnpike before Beckley, WV the skies opened up and the snow came down so think I could barely see. I had reservations in Beckley to stay the night, so I figured I’d get there ne problem, except there was a problem. The roads were getting slick and the semi trailers don’t do well with slick. It was about 10 miles to Beckley when the traffic came to a complete stop due to a semi jack-knifed up ahead. OK, this was going to be interesting…not much gas and temps well below zero. The snow was up to a foot in less than an hour and two foot came shortly after that. Not quite sure what the total ended up being, but it was well over 3 foot for sure. As darkness fell I was starting to worry about my daughter and the freezing temps. I knew I would have to shut the car off or it would run out of gas, and either way that wasn’t good for her. I finally made the decision to get out and ask the trucker stuck next to me if we could stay in his cab (in was a sleeper) so my daughter wouldn’t freeze to death.

My Angel that year was a man named James, and he let me and my daughter stay in his nice warm truck for the day and a half it took to dig us out and get us back on our way home. James wouldn’t accept money for helping us; just a hand shake was all he’d take. I also gave him my gratitude when we arrived home and my wife hugged my little girl with tears in her eyes. Turns out…Angels are truckers in disguise. God bless you James from Texas!


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