Folding chairs had to be moved from the funeral home, set up, and returned to the funeral home after the outdoor Blossomtime Blessing of the Blossoms ceremony held a few miles away. The trailer was rather old, and showing its age. One of the volunteer workers made a comment about the wheels and axles. The owner said the trailer had started out as a 1972 tent camper, and after many years when the camper part wore out, the frame was converted to a utility trailer. He said there would never be a problem with the wheels or axles because of a repair job many years before.
Then he told the workers this story:
One four-day weekend around 1977, my family decided to go camping at a Yogi Bear campground in Indiana. I had to work until noon on Saturday, so my wife would drive the camper to the campsite on Friday night. I would come down after work on Saturday.
Everything went well until my wife drove over a railroad track in Plymouth. A weld on the trailer axle broke causing the wheel to rub the inner fender. A man following her in a pickup truck noticed the problem. After he alerted her, they both pulled into a parking lot where he introduced himself. My two younger daughters, and our fifteen year-old son were with her.
The man in the pickup truck said he had the knowledge and tools needed to make the repairs and he knew of someone who would weld it back. He said our son would have to do the work, however, since the man had been involved in an accident a couple of weeks prior and could not help. Our son was mechanically inclined and was in machine shop classes in high school. Two jacks were taken from the man’s truck and the trailer was jacked up. The wheels and four bolts holding the axle on were removed, and the axle was placed in the man’s truck. The man and our son drove several blocks to a machine shop.
Our son had related the following: They arrived at what appeared to be a new shop — modern, very nice, new black parking lot, freshly painted yellow parking stripes. They pulled up to the side door where they were met by another man who took the axle inside. The shop was brightly lit and full of the most modern tools and machines. The axle was placed on a welding table, pulled back into correct shape, checked to make sure the alignment was correct and welded back. The son told the welder to give him his name and address and the cost, that he would have his mother send a check. The welder replied, “I owe the man you are with a great deal. There will not be a charge.”
The axle was taken back to the trailer and installed. Upon completion my wife pulled out her checkbook and asked the man for a price. He told her, “There is not a charge, but when you see someone broken down on the highway, stop and do whatever you can for them. When I was in that accident two weeks ago, if someone had not stopped to help me I would not be here today.”
Our family went on to the campground and had an enjoyable weekend. After returning home my wife wanted to send a thank you card to the man who had helped them. She had his name but not an address, so she called the phone operator. She did not get a mailing address, but was given a phone number. She called the number and when a woman answered explained what had occurred and asked to speak to the man. The woman said, “That man was my husband. Unfortunately, he was killed in that accident two weeks ago. You are the second person who has called with such comments. Because of your phone calls, I now know where he is and that he is in good hands.”
Note* Upon thinking about all that took place that day, it is obvious that ANGELS do walk among us and have remarkable powers and abilities. Apparently, the machine shop and tools were created by him for that very purpose.
Photo Note** This “spare” on the trailer now is a 1972 original from when the wheels and tires were replaced in 2022, after five decades of service. We never had a problem with those tires and, although they did show cracks and had chunks missing, they continued to hold air while doing their job for 50 years.