Dear Reader:

We have talked many times about guardian angels and how they appear most times as just another face in a crowd of many…who tells you something you need to hear or warns you about potential disaster in the near future or helps you in time of need.

The story today falls in the last category…the guardian angel who appears at our greatest moment of need. The “Repo” Man. Yes, I said the “Repo” Man is the real hero , the guardian angel in this story. Once again, it is a Steve Hartman special story from CBS Sunday Morning and once again, I was overcome with emotion watching it.

Guardian angels do come in all shapes and sizes….not always looking like our imagined stereotypical angel.

In fact sometimes our guardian angel turns out to look like somebody we never want to see upclose and personal…a “repo” man repossessing our car or furniture from us.

And here he is….Jim, the “Repo” Man…the guardian angel in our story.

Elderly couple grateful for repo man with heart of gold  (Steve Hartman)

“ This job isn’t easy or popular…the “Repo” man said. You’re going to have people try to run you over with your car.”

“He was wonderful. I mean, he’s the kindest man I’ve ever met in all my life,” Pat Kipping said of her repo man.

Pat and her husband Stan live in Red Bud, Illinois. Stan, a Navy vet and retired janitor, is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s.

They say they were never rich, but they’ve never been this deep in debt, either. The most devastating blow came just a few months back when they realized couldn’t even afford the $100 payments on their ’98 Buick Century.

“When he took the car I said, ‘God, do whatever, whatever you think is best for us.’ You know, God works in mysterious ways,” Pat said.

Well, if he’s working through a repo man that’s the most mysterious of all.

“They’re like America’s grandparents. I saw my grandparents in them,” Jim said. “And I made it a block before I pulled over and called the bank. And I asked them if I could pay off the past due amount.”

Jim returned a few days later. He had the car detailed, the oil changed, even put a frozen turkey in the front.

He also started a GoFundMe campaign, which covered the late payments, and then some.

“We paid off the whole car. You have no car payments anymore,” Jim told Pat and Stan when he returned the car.

“Oh my God,” Pat replied.

“Paid the whole thing off.”  

Finally, he gave them an envelope with the extra money, more than $17,000 extra, to date.

Pat was asked how this changed her outlook on life.

“There’s good people out there. He’s our guardian angel,” she said.

There are good people out there — guardian angels — and sometimes you find them in the most unlikely places and professions.

Because, although kindness is rarely a job, no matter what you do, it’s always an option.

………………………………..

So until tomorrow…we all have options and being kind to our fellow man should take top priority….a goal for 2017!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

***It is one a.m. and I am so filled with love and happiness that my cup runneth over. I have been receiving photos all night and will share them later about this once-in-a-lifetime experience…but for right now…right this very minute…this is the picture, that I as a mother, will treasure forever.

 It is the moment that my two sons got to witness history made and learned how to believe in miracles…to see the impossible become the possible with just enough time…one second to be exact.

 I love you Walsh and Tommy! The team and time of destiny! You were there!