By the time I pulled in he was pulling out, with the HVAC repair finished and her furnace working as good as new
It’s been almost two years since my neighbor moved in down the road from me. Neighbor may be a loose term given how spread apart the houses are in the forested area I live in, but I make sure to introduce myself to any new people in the area. When I saw the moving truck outside one day, I stopped by to say hi. The person moving in was an elderly woman who was wanting to escape to a more natural, peaceful environment in her old age. I offered to help rearrange her furniture after the moving guys left, and have since stopped by once a week to check in on things. Last winter we got some rather heavy snow for the region of the country and I was concerned with how the cold would affect my neighbor’s health, so called to make sure her furnace was working alright. At that point in time her furnace had still been working properly, but a week later it broke down. She didn’t want to inconvenience me so instead of mentioning it she called the HVAC company in our town to have a technician come and fix it, and waited out the time until the appointment by keeping her oven running to warm the house. I was confused when I drove by and saw the HVAC technician’s van parked in front of her house. By the time I pulled in he was pulling out, with the HVAC repair finished and her furnace working as good as new. If she had said something to me sooner I would have gladly let her stay with me until it could be fixed, but she valued her independence more and didn’t want to put me out. I’m just glad it all ended well.