Yesterday was Toronto’s biggest snowfall day of the season. Of course, it had started lightly the night before and didn’t stop until yesterday evening. My husband had already started clearing the snow the night before and had cleaned a good portion of it. But by morning, the driveway and sidewalk were once again buried under a thick layer of snow.
My husband was feeling a bit unwell in the morning—one of those seasonal viruses, you know. Yet, he still went outside to clear the fresh snow. I followed him a little later.
As soon as my husband saw me, he said, “Look, someone has already cleared all the snow.”
I looked and saw that the front half of our driveway, all the way to the road, was completely cleared. Before I could ask who did it, my husband said, “Kevin did it.”
I’ve mentioned Kevin before. He’s the guy who lives in the house to our left—our left-hand side neighbor. His mother’s name was Donna. Donna passed away last year. They are true Canadian folks.
So, when Kevin got up in the morning to clear the snow from his own house, he also cleared all the snow in front of our house and on our sidewalk. Since our houses are next to each other, it was easy for him. This means Kevin has a snow-clearing machine, which runs on gas.
When my husband stepped outside and saw the cleared snow, he looked around to see if anyone was there. That’s when he saw Kevin with his machine. My husband thanked him countless times for doing something so generous.
Kevin, in his usual polite manner, just lowered his head slightly and said, “It’s okay.”
That’s the kind of person Kevin is. He took care of his mother until her last breath. He never sent her to an old home; instead, he stayed in the basement of their house for as long as she was alive. He even delayed his marriage—perhaps to care for his mother. Even after getting married, he and his wife continued living in the basement, keeping his mother upstairs. Just as he gave her the upper floor of the house, he also gave her the highest place in his heart. You don’t see that kind of devotion often.
And about the snow clearing—he didn’t just do it for us. He clears the snow for almost ten houses in the neighborhood, unconditionally, just because he wants to.
That’s why we consider ourselves so lucky to have such a neighbor. Even our neighbor on the right side is a good one.
There’s a saying in this country: if a neighborhood is good—meaning gentle and peaceful—its reputation and value rise.
Toronto, Canada
