Going the extra mile

Published 3:07 pm Sunday, June 28, 2015

By Betty Ramsey
Who in today’s world hasn’t been stressed out trying to juggle all the to do’s on our list? I’m not a betting “man” but if I were I’d say most of us have been there and more than once. You know that feeling you get when an overwhelming amount of necessary to do’s takes over. From the moment you roll out of bed (all too early of course) and your feet hit the floor it’s off to tackle the day. The list can seem endless; child care to adult care, pets that need attending to, doctors appointments, work, laundry, the every day necessities like eating, which also requires shopping and cooking, lessons, grass cutting, weeds to pull and so on and so on. It is inevitable that eventually in all this hustle and bustle of life we will lose track of time, miss an appointment, and forget to run that important errand or misplace something. Can you relate? I bet you can.

 

Well it happened to one of the best of us, Kim Nelson, just this week. If you know Kim you know that the woman should have a large “S” embroidered on her shirtfront. If there was ever a super woman Nelson is it! It is amazing how many things this woman accomplishes in a day. Mother of three active children, business owner, writer, creator of the most amazing Christmas cards ever, and she still finds time to go to school, serve on multiple committees and volunteer. With her overloaded schedule it was bound to happen — a misplaced item.  And for Kim it was not just any item but an important misplaced item, a long awaited check was missing!

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This morning Nelson came into the office with a large smile on her face. I said things had fallen apart for Kim this week so you might be wondering why she was smiling.  There are a few reasons. First of all she found the check; which was a relief of course, but most of all because she was thankful.

 

Here’s how it happened: Kim was busy cleaning up, sorting out mail and such.  She received the mail, put the check in her purse (or so she thought) added the file 13 items to the recycle bin and put the rest of the mail on the table. Upon arriving at the bank to deposit the check she discovered it was missing. Certain she must have left it on the table with the other mail, she went on to work and called home asking her son to check on the table. He checked but it wasn’t there.  Still not too worried she told him to look again, still no check.  Now the panic started to rise.  Where could that check be?  She racked her brain, retraced her steps and realized she might have put it with the recycling stuff, which unfortunately had already been picked up.

 

Okay next steps, where would the recycling go? She thought it might be downtown and drove there all the while praying to God to help her figure out what she did with the check. Did she put it in the recycle bin? If so, how would she find it? She found herself in front of the Tryon Fire Department at seven in the evening. She didn’t think anyone would be there but something told her to stop. Knocking on the door it was opened by town manager and fire chief Joey Davis.  Peering inside she could see he was in the middle of a meeting.  She apologized and said she didn’t want to interrupt but Davis stepped outside and asked her what is wrong (I’m sure he could see it on her face). Kim explained she might have accidently put an important check in the recycling bin.

 

Davis asked Tommy Stott to take Kim over to the recycling area and help her look for the check.  Stott led the way and when they arrived the huge mountain of paper overwhelmed Nelson. She knew she would be there all night digging her way through the paper trying to find the check. Kim told Stott he could go and she would look for it but Stott told her he would help her.

 

They began looking through the mountain of recycling paper when in just a few short minutes Kim spied an IGA bag, her recycling had been in just such a bag.  Could it be?  Yes, you guessed it, and the missing check was inside.

 

The reason for the big smile on Kim’s face is multifaceted but the biggest is that we are so blessed to live in a town where people really care and go the extra mile to help one and other.  Kudos to Joey Davis and Tommy Stott, you make our area a better place to live.