Thought for today:

May your pockets be heavy
Your heart be light
And may good luck pursue you
Each morning and night.

Yep, it really works! You'll see today in Bill's great story about how his family was greeted with incredible kindness and generosity. By the way, does anyone know the whereabouts of Mr. & Mrs. Dick Swanner, who used to live in Blythe, California?

Authors Note: I just wanted you to know that I've just heard from the Swanners. It seems a fellow Hearwarmer contacted the Swanners and they emailed me. Thank you for your prayers. -Bill Pearson

My wife, Donna, and I went to the movies several months ago and saw "Pay It Forward". Several times I had to dig the handkerchief out of my back pocket and wipe away the tears. Like most people, I couldn't help but think what a wonderful idea, but would it really work? As I pondered the question on the way home, I realized, not only would it work, but that it has been working, in my life at least, for over three decades.

In August of 1969, I was reassigned from Udorn, Thailand, to a small Army post outside of Petaluma, California. Donna and our 15 month old daughter, Annabelle, had spent the previous year in an apartment in Tampa to be near our parents. I was only an E-4, which meant the Army wouldn't pay to move my family to California, so we borrowed the money for me to fly from San Francisco to Tampa and for us to drive to Petaluma, pulling a U-Haul with our Chevy Corvair. Pretty dumb in retrospect, but we were young, 20 and 21, and didn't know any better.

What a trip! It took us 30 days to reach Petaluma! Of course I-10 wasn't completed all the way, and we visited some friends and relatives, so we spent a good deal of time off the freeways. We had a flat tire in Alabama or Mississippi, and a stranger stopped to help us change it. I don't remember his name, only that he accepted my thanks as if he hadn't done anything special. The transmission went out as we were coming down from the Organ Mountains into Las Cruces. We stayed in a motel for several days while the transmission was being replaced and our folks wired us a loan to pay the $200-300 it cost.

On Saturday evening of Labor Day weekend, 20 miles east of Blythe, California, the engine in our little Corvair blew up. After having the car and trailer towed into Blythe, we found one motel that had a vacancy, but only for two nights. It seems dove season started on the day after Labor Day and all of the motels in town were booked. Short on cash and stranded without a car, we didn't know what we were going to do. The following morning we dressed and went to church and God provided a miracle in the form of the Swanners.

After welcoming us to their church and finding out how we happened to be in Blythe, the Swanners invited us to stay with them until our transportation problems were solved. They fed us, they housed us, they took us skiing on the Colorado River, they found us a mechanic, and they helped us locate an honest used car dealer when it turned out the Corvair wasn't worth fixing.

Finally, in a leap of faith that surpasses comprehension, Dick Swanner co-signed a loan so that Donna and I could buy a car in a town where no one knew us. We had no way to repay the Swanners for their generosity except to express our gratitude. Their reply was, "You'll help someone else someday!"

I regret that I don't remember Mrs. Swanner's first name. I regret that I misplaced their address and we never spoke again after Donna and I drove out of Blythe on the Wednesday after Labor Day. But most of all, I regret they will never know how much their act of generosity affected our lives and how often Donna and I have tried to repay them by helping others.

Yep, "Pay it Forward" has worked in both directions for Donna and me.

Thank you Mr. & Mrs. Dick Swanner, wherever you are.

by: Bill Pearson

Bill is a retired Master Sergeant, USA, and is a programmer and project manager on a contract with the New Mexico Department of Public Safety, in Santa Fe. Bill says, "Donna and I have just celebrated our 34th anniversary. We have 3 married children, 5 grandchildren and the most wonderful marriage two people have ever had."

If you would like to give someone a favor and have them "pass it on" you are invited to use our Heartwarmers Get a Favor/Give a Favor program. It's free and a great way to have your generosity ripple throughout the world. Go to:
Heartwarmer's Favors'.

This story may not be reproduced in any way, without the author's written permission.