The Propane Gas Explosion that took Barbara Pickards home
On December 13, 2013, Barbara would have normally been at home on a break from her position at Ole South Pancake House.
Instead, she treated herself to lunch and Christmas shopping when her home exploded from a propane gas leak.
I met Barbara this afternoon while she was looking at the 2001 Ford Explorer Sport I have for sale next to my home.
Talking with her about the vehicle, she told me the story I had read in the newspaper regarding an explosion that had been well covered by local news media channels.
What wasn’t covered will surprise, encourage and inspire you!
Someone passing through an airport watching this same story sent a long letter and donation that would help restore Barbara’s faith in humanity along with her hope in her fellow man.
Going over the vehicle with her, I immediately realized that I planned to commit to helping this courageous survivor.
I inquired about what she had lost that she was unable to replace. Barbara told me that one member of the Methodist Men’s Club had provided shelter within 24 hours of losing her home.
Crying as she told me how her life had changed, she told me the only clothing she had was her work uniform items from Ole South Pancake House. In fact, she was wearing her work Tshirt while visiting with me.
I asked what size she wore (16-18) and, what items she needed. You see, I was already thinking about what I had in my inventory for Texas Twins Treasures.
Inviting Barbara into my storage area, I showed her the table and chairs and antique three piece set entertainment center I’d already decided to give her.
Crying, she told me how people had reached out to help her. Hugging me, she told me how grateful she was that God had sent her to me.
Yes, touching another’s life has been the way Cindy Daniel and myself have always lived.
Are we that different from others? No. We simply are the people we’ve always wishes to have met when times were tough. The people that care about complete strangers that sadly, society conveniently overlooks and forgets about.
My twin and I are survivors because failure simply wasn’t an option.
Do we help others that don’t appreciate it occasionally? Of course, there’s a bad ape in every bunch.
Does this taint us or cause us to be cynical? No!
Why Wendy? Because I will always base my life and my legacy on the ability to reach back and grab as many folks struggling through life as my boat can carry- my sister will right beside me.
My legacy will be that of hope and faith in a future where neighbors and communities unite to help one another.
If you think about it, everyone has the time to do the same thing. News about death and despair hits televisions across America every night.
Why can’t we change that to stories of surviving traumatic events? To helping each other? To stories of humanity and success over failure, illnesses, job loss and health setbacks?
No hard working American has ever returned home at the end of a long day tired and hungry to zealously look forward to another day of pounding rocks and paying bills.
Most of us can’t afford a vacation! Here’s what we can do, we can open our eyes to what’s happening. We can listen with our hearts and our minds and we can find a way to enrich our own lives by reaching out.
