There has been a lot of negativity in the world lately.
Between the unstable weather the region has seen, the recent tragedy in Castor and — who can forget — the ongoing pandemic, people are tired and angry.
The last two years would have been a lot for anyone to take in.
Yet, despite the anger under the surface, there is still good out there and this weekend I bore witness to it first hand.
A family friend who has had numerous issues with her rental accommodations in a rural hamlet where she lived in low cost housing was finally able to move into a senior’s residence in Castor.
After some issues getting things arranged for the move things finally fell into place, a trailer was rented and the date of the move arrived.
What blew me away with this move is that at various points throughout the day as many as a dozen people showed up to help with the move.
Of the dozen, several have never before met this friend, yet they came out to help anyway.
One friend of mine even donated the use of his truck to tow the trailer for the two loads that were needed to move this friend.
Neither friend had ever met each other before, yet he stepped in to help.
It was honestly heartwarming to see that even in a time when so much negative is blowing up around us, there is still good around.
The people who volunteered did so out of kindness and respect for their fellow human, with no anticipation of pay or reward, though I will confess that after the move was complete the friend we moved did buy everyone pizza from the local restaurant as a big thank you.
Still, the pizza aside, seeing the number of people who came out to help was breathtaking.
It definitely helped reaffirm my faith in humanity.
Thanks to the many hands to help load and unload the trailer we got both needed loads done fairly quickly with enough time left over to help the friend start to get their new place organized, though that will be a work in progress for awhile I’m sure.
This is one of the many things I love about living in rural Alberta; people coming out of the woodwork to help a stranger simply would not happen in a major centre like Calgary or Edmonton.
Frankly, my belief is the bigger the population, the less the sense of community.
Community is something that rural Alberta has proved time and time again to have in excess.
The community rallied to support the friends, the family and the colleagues of the fallen firefighter in our community.
A few days later the community rallied to help a relative stranger move into a new home.
I am in awe.
On behalf of the family friend, I am grateful.
Today, I’m proud to be from rural Alberta.