A kind Florida man who learned his neighbor was going to be deployed, agreed to mow the family’s yard during his absence. But to the surprise of the military man’s wife, he showed up early, allowing the doting dad precious extra time with his children.
Aliette, 41, who lives with her husband and their two daughters in central Florida, approached their neighbor, Steve, ahead of the deployment, knowing her husband was worried about the upkeep of the yard.
With a lot already on her plate, especially with childcare, the mom of two couldn’t take care of the yard herself. She also realized that a lawn service would require supervision.
However, Steve agreed to mow the lawn until her husband’s return.
“Steve has been our neighbor for several years,” Aliette told The Epoch Times. “He has a lovely family”
“I sent him a text ... ‘Could you help cut our grass? He will cut it today before he deploys tomorrow, but it would be great if you could cut it and help me maintain it while he is gone. We can pay you.’ He responded right away that it wasn’t a problem at all and that he would not accept payment,” Aliette wrote. “He wanted to help.”
“I let my husband know, and we both breathed a sigh of relief,” Alliete added. “When your husband is deployed, whatever worry you can take off your plate means the world. Knowing the grass would be taken care of was enormous stress off my shoulders.”
An hour later, as Alliete’s husband was playing with his girls and trying to spend as much time as possible before he left for his deployment the next day, the family heard a “mower.”
The couple thought Steve had misunderstood and started too soon. But when Aliette went outside to let him off the hook, Steve said, “I’m not the one about to leave my family for deployment. He can spend time with his family, and I got it.”
As her worry was overshadowed by relief and gratitude, Aliette burst out crying. It wasn’t about the grass, she explained, it was about the “gift of time,” Steve gave her family.
Aliette shared a photo of Steve hard at work on the lawn with her post, taken without his knowledge from the window of her house.
Steve kept to his word and maintained the Silva family’s lawn, free of charge, for the entire deployment. When Aliette’s husband returned home he took up mowing duties once more, but Aliette will never forget the friendly neighbor who made their lives easier, without being asked.
“Steve is still our neighbor, and we are very thankful for him!” Aliette told The Epoch Times.
