I’ve been a big fan of Mr. Rogers since I was a young girl. He played a big part in many children’s lives as he quietly, calmly and sincerely taught life lessons disguised as charming stories.

There is one quote of his that has stayed with me all these years.

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.'”

I thought about that several times over the past couple of weeks. It’s been kind of a trying time for our family as my husband has been recuperating from a nasty fall that resulted in a broken femur. He’s on the mend, thankfully, but the incident offered some scary moments for both of us.

I wanted to offer a few shout outs to the remarkable and caring people who were our “helpers” these past few weeks.

Here’s to our mail carrier. I don’t know her name — I didn’t catch it on that crazy day when the accident happened. She was delivering mail on our street and found my husband lying there on the ground next to our car. He had no coat and no cell phone. She was able to call for help for him.

Thanks to the police officers who responded and helped get him a warm blanket as he waited for the ambulance. The ambulance and ER staff were kind and helped make him as comfortable as possible before he was transported to Mercy in Des Moines.

After surgery and a few days recovery in Des Moines, Larry was able to return to Webster City where underwent physical therapy at Van Diest Medical Center. He received excellent care there — from the nurses and CNAs to the rehab personnel and everyone who made his stay comfortable and restful.

Following the big snowstorm last week, my son and I were struggling to get all of our cars off the street before the snow ordinance kicked in. We were really buried and after an exhausting hour of scooping and shoveling, we had made headway but not enough to pull the cars out of the snowbanks.

We tried rocking and twisting to get the cars moving. No luck.

That’s when a very kind neighbor arrived to help us move the last bit of snow. Then she even helped give us a push out of the snow bank. When I got stuck on some ice at the corner, she and my son trudged down the street to help me get free.

I wanted to give a shout out to my snow removal guy who made an extra effort to clear a path all the way to the street as we planned to bring my husband home.

Mr. Rogers was right — there are always helpers. It’s something I’ve always known about Webster City and Hamilton County. When people are in need, others step up to help as they can. That’s why I’m glad to have called this community my home over the past 30 years.