Christmas in August

This summer I met the lovely woman overseeing property renovations across the street. To encourage her mentally challenged nephew’s work ethic and build toward future autonomy, she set up a lawn mowing service in his name.

A few weeks ago another neighbor suggested they cut our grass to promote the fledgling business. I felt guilty not having more than $20 to pay the young man, especially seeing how hard his aunt worked alongside him, all the while pointing out any details he missed.

Fast forward to the present, my stubborn self finally took my husband’s advice and I called her. The pair arrived two days earlier than expected and brought the contractor and his employee along. I had no idea until I passed by the front windows and saw one of the guys edging the sidewalk, hacking away with a flat edged shovel (!) and heaping the huge amount of removed overgrowth for C and her nephew to bag up and haul away.

What a mess I had before...

I gratefully handed over $60, which still seemed too low, so I bagged up some of my garden harvest for both parties. The chief contractor said he would make salsa that night. That made me smile, and he beamed at me when I said it felt like Christmas. I know this transformation makes a lot of folks happy.

Can you believe the largess expressed by people who don’t even live nearby? Isn’t it cute that the young man chose a cartoon T-Rex as the logo for Dino Mowers?

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