You might have seen the story online about Mr. Rogers. He said whenever something scary was going on, his mom would tell him to “Always look for the helpers.” It takes the focus off the bad and onto the doctors, nurses, firefighters, police, neighbors, volunteers etc. Focus on the good.

We were in the middle of that on a Tuesday & I thought of Mr. Rogers. We had gone to Dallas’ last Cross Country meet in St.Cloud. It was a beautiful MN fall day… sun shining, pretty trees, slight breeze. He ran his fastest race yet. It was exciting to see. After he ran, we left him with the team to watch the other groups run & ride the bus home. We went on a bit of a road trip to look at a mower. Cam had found it online and it worked out that if we left after the run, we’d make it up to see the mower after the guy was done with work. It was an uneventful road trip. We met him at his place of work and followed him home. Cameron tested the mower and decided it was a good deal. I had just handed the guy the cash, when he tripped. He didn’t get up & looked like he might be having a seizure. A neighbor lady “just happened” to be walking by. She ran up to check on him and identified herself as a first responder. While she called 911, she handed me her keys and told me to get all of the medical stuff out of her black vehicle. Myles and I ran down the street trying to find her vehicle. While we were searching, another neighbor came home from her shift as a nurse. She jumped in to help with CPR. We finally realized that her car was inside the garage (not outside) and found the AED and other supplies. When we raced back to the scene, the guy was blue. The police had arrived and one of the officers was a paramedic. The ambulance came and brought more equipment to get his heart started. It was chaos and organization… all spinning so fast but going in slow motion. I put my arm around the first responder’s granddaughter & made sure she was turned away from the scene. Myles was in our truck. Several times the man’s heart was shocked. Check the pulse, check the pupils etc. They brought him back and got him stable enough to transport.

A man died and was revived right before us. This was pretty shocking for everyone. After we got home, I told Myles that it must not have been the man’s time to go. He had a lot of people working to help him. Look at all of the helpers: The first responder who was in the right place at the right time, the nurse who got home from her shift at the right time, the police, the ambulance crew and us. Although I don’t feel like we did much, we were there. He likely would have had this happen regardless if we were there or not.

A couple of months have passed. Myles was quite shaken for a while after the experience. I think we all were. I thought of that again today when I saw a trailer house fire on the way to work. I looked at all of the vehicles there to help… police, ambulance, fire trucks etc. I looked for the helpers. They help people continue their journey, either in this life or the next. Peace be with you today on your journey of enough.