By Shanon Kirkorian

This is my first year living up here in Pinon Pines…so our recent storm and its consequences were a bit daunting.

On Tuesday, I trudged through snow up to my thighs and started trying to dig out so I could get to a store for food. I wasn’t making much of a dent. The snow was deep, heavy and wet. Every time I lifted my shovel it felt like I was trying to lift a wheelbarrow full of wet cement.

I stopped to catch my breath, say a prayer, and feel very sorry for myself…and in that moment I saw HIM. A young boy with a snow shovel hovering around the drive next to mine.

“Hey…” I called. “You and that shovel for hire?”

He shuffled his feet a bit, tugged at the funny hat he was wearing… (ok, smart hat considering I was already snowblind after a few minutes!)

“Yeah, I guess,” the boy with the shovel said and started moving toward my drive.

“Then you are my new best friend!” I told him. Okay, he wasn’t 6 feet something, but he had a shovel and more importantly he was willing to use it.

He got to the edge of my drive and started shoveling. I watched for a minute or two, and was impressed with his ability and energy (geez, I remember being that gung-ho when I was young..errr)

“Ok, hang on a sec…. Let’s work smarter, rather than harder ok? We just need to clear the drive the width of my truck, right? About 7 feet straight back from the truck.”

Boy Wonder looked up from under his floppy hat, and nodded agreement. “Yeah, that’s a good idea.” He moved in a few feet and went right back to shoveling.

I’m feeling a bit anxious now. This is serious stuff for me. There is no way I’m getting this driveway cleared on my own. I really need help, and I am willing to pay for it.

“Hey…what’s your name?”

Wonder Boy in the floppy hat hardly paused in his shoveling. “Kolby.”

“Ok, Kolby. I’m Shanon. Nice to meet you, you are my angel of mercy, but I will pay you if you can get me out of here today! Does $30 sound fair?”

Kolby, in his snowpants and floppy hat stopped and looked up — wide-eyed and excited, but then he decided to play it cool… “Yeah, that’ll be okay.”

Great! But I decided to play it cool, too. “Let’s get to work then.”

His mom, Brenda came by to bring him a bottle of water and a banana. She has to be walking on clouds of pride — her son working hard to help someone in need…

And then his shovel broke… He had to use mine, which put me out of the work force until my neighbor Scott came out and offered to loan me his shovel (gee, thanks!)

But Kolby was up to the job and determined to get it done. And get it done, he did!

I hope that Kolby always knows he has what it takes to get a job done. Brute force paired with a heart for helping others is a combination that can conquer anything in life.

Kolby, and Mom Brenda Gameros ~ God’s blessings on you both.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! PS: Kolby, I owe you a snow shovel, darlin’.

This is part of the April 01, 2011 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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