That time my car was towed on Thanksgiving…
The Miracle of “Paying it Forward.”
Gratitude is not (just) celebrating the good… it is learning to FIND the good in any situation!
~Kate Phillips
Do you have a favorite Thanksgiving memory?
As much as I love gathering with family and friends to enjoy a delicious holiday feast, one of my now-favorite Thanksgiving memories came disguised (or, at least, part of it) as a Terrible, Awful, No Good, Very Bad Day.
After enduring years of hours-long Thanksgiving ferry lines to commute to my parents’ home, one year I decided to short-cut the process. I skipped the line and boarded the ferry as a walk-on passenger to be picked up on the other side.
Hundreds of other holiday travelers had the same idea. The ferry passenger parking lot was full to overflowing, as was the street parking. I finally found a parking space at a nearby mini-mall parking lot. The shops were all safely closed for the day and other travelers were parking there as well. I grabbed my sweet potato dish and caught the ferry!
Many hours later, I returned by way of the same ferry. It was dark, cold, rainy, and I was a bit perturbed that I hadn’t made a better mental note as to exactly where my car was parked! I wandered around the parking lot, casually at first, then methodically up and down the now-sparse rows of cars, with no luck.
Finally, a couple with two children pulled up in a four-door sedan. “Are you looking for your car?” “Uh-huh,” I answered. “How did you know?”
They explained that a grumpy property owner (probably having a Terrible, Awful, No Good, Very Bad Day) decided to TOW all of the cars parked at his CLOSED business near the ferry dock! Many dozens of foot passengers returning from Thanksgiving meals and visits had discovered themselves stranded.
Our cars had been towed to a neighboring town and promptly impounded. This family had just reclaimed their own car, assisted by another stranger who had endured the same fate. They had then driven back to the parking lot to help someone else find their missing car, where they found me wandering around in the rain!
They gave me the number of the towing company and waited while I confirmed my car’s whereabouts. Then they insisted on giving me a ride to the towing yard, several miles away, to get my car. (Their own rescuers had done the same for them.)
Forty-five minutes and $196 later (but no taxi fees), I was reunited with my car.
As bummed as I was about the car being towed, I was SO grateful for my Thanksgiving angels, and so happy to have my very own, warm car back!
My rescuers refused to accept a tip, but suggested that I could “pay forward” the help I had received. (Paying it forward is a centuries-old concept of returning a favor “forward” to someone else in need, rather than paying it “back,” and was popularized by a poignant movie of the same name.)
It was very late now and I was still a long drive from home, but knew what I must do next.
I drove back to the same parking lot. The next ferry had come and gone, and sure enough, a frustrated family — complete with cold, tired kids — was roaming around in the rain, unable to find their car.
“Are you looking for your car?” I asked. “I know where it is – and I can take you to it!”
It’s easy to be thankful with our families around the turkey table. It’s a little harder to be thankful when it’s late, you’re tired, you’re cold, it’s dark and raining, and your CAR IS MISSING! That’s when we can learn to become a PERSON of gratitude, regardless of the situation.
In challenging times, giving thanks requires the ability to see the silver lining in the clouds, spin a bit straw into gold, and trust that there is a purpose for everything — even pain.
Initially, I was sure I would remember this experience as an all-time holiday low point, “The Year My Car Got Towed on Thanksgiving.” But what remains in my memory about this holiday is something much, much better!!! It is the story of how a group of strangers embraced the spirit of Thanksgiving.
Yes, my car got towed, but the story did not end there. It became “The Year When Stranded Strangers Helped Each Other Out!” I’ll never forget the “pay it forward” miracle of giving and receiving that turned ordinary people into angels and heroes.
As an anonymous Alcoholics Anonymous spokesperson was quoted in the Christian Science Monitor in 1944, “You can’t pay anyone back for what has happened to you, so you try to find someone you can pay forward.”
This Thanksgiving, let’s not simply count our blessings. Let’s embrace a prosperity mindset and “pay forward” the gifts that we’ve received.
My challenge to you: Choose someone to help. Whether it’s through a personal favor, your local food bank or a donation, let’s pay our blessings forward.
The most meaningful thing I have done this month wasn’t celebrating good times with loved ones or even making a difference for my clients. It was supporting a friend going through a very challenging time of homelessness and being able to offer some material assistance as well as encouragement.
You can find more details on my friend Lorrie and her partner here, including a link to her GoFundMe. (Donate $20 or more and I’ll gift you a ticket to a virtual workshop, such as my Retirement Revival virtual event on December 10.)
Together, we make a difference. 🙏🍁🦃❤️
What’s YOUR favorite Thanksgiving story??