I stand corrected...

On my last posting I told a story about Paul Arpin on Thanksgiving. Chip Martin sent me an email to correct my telling of the story and to elaborate...

Thanks, but the story is bigger than that.

The driver was actually Ted Kerkhof, my father in law and business partner at the time.

Retired from the road from Bekins after twenty years, Ted went back on the road to raise some money because we were having business difficulties.

Ted was in his 60’s at the time, and the special part about the story is that he  was a Dutch immigrant who grew up under Nazi occupation and actually lived in Eindhoven Holland when the Allies invaded (the movie a Bridge too Far tells the story of that invasion which was the largest airborne invasion in history)

So here is a guy, who went through all that as a young man, raises a family of six moving from Holland, to Canada, to Germany, to settle in the US working the tobacco fields, mines, lumber, restaurants, factories, he was even a Canadian paratrooper, etc, only to get back in the truck and go on the road to take care of business when most men his age would be buried or whining fat on the couch.

Ted was my mentor and role model of a man, so this true story of what Paul did for Ted may not seem like much to most, but to me there just are not adequate words.

In a way, Ted and Paul were cut from the same cloth, old school guys who gave a dam, and I suppose that is another reason why the story is so touching because of the selfless dedication and concern from both men.

Paul didn’t know Ted. He only knew that one of his drivers needed help, and he did, even if it meant getting up from the Thanksgiving table to drive through the snow and reach into his wallet for a man he had never met.

Dave, I have goose bumps just thinking about the spirit that once drove such men, because truth be told I cannot honestly say whether I would go back on the road as Ted did when it was needed most, or whether I would answer my phone on Thanksgiving, much less leave the house to help a stranger as Paul did, even if he was one of my employees.

Anyway, thanks for remembering.

Sincerely,

William Martin