Re: 09-11 story for all of you.


Thanks so much for sharing your story, Bill. What a thoughtful, touching way
to use your talents and gifts to bring joy to so many others; I'm sure your
kindness will be remembered by those touched by it forever.

Take care,
Kim
-------------- Original message from willyrain@aol.com: --------------


> Hello all, many of you have read this story before, but for 09-11, I
> am sending it out again.
> Please feel free to share the story with your friends.
> My hope is that the story one day gets to the New York City Policeman
> who touched my heart and helped to inspire the story.
> God bless,
> Bill Garvey
>
>
>
>
> Story called,
>
> God Bless You Man
> Our family has been growing giant pumpkins for competition for the
> last 17 years. We have won many contest and once started a business
> shipping giant pumpkins all over the USA.
>
> We even had cards printed that said "The Pumpkin Man!" Our cards
> pictured my daughter Natalie sitting on one of our prize winning giant
> pumpkins dressed in a pumpkin costume.
> With time our world changed and although we still competed in
> contests, we grew our garden more for the fun of it. We found more
> love in childrens smiles then we found in blue ribbons, so we donated
> many of our best pumpkins to hospitals and schools each year to make a
> special Halloween!
> Then came September 11, 2001. We all held our breath waiting.
> President Bush asked us to give our best to heal America. What could
> we do to heal America?
> Then one day I woke up and had the answer! We would take our best
> pumpkin to New York City to help them smile.
> Our best pumpkin weighed just over 500 pounds and was perfect in shape.
> I excitedly told my boss Jill about my plan and she was all for it! So
> off I went trying to find a place to take it, after just over a week
> of frustration, I was starting to get discouraged. I didnt know what
> to do next, then Jill came up with several new people to contact and
> maps of where to go if we were finally going to get the go ahead to
> succeed.
> On October 10, 2001, one of our leads finally came through. We
> received a call from the Red Cross at the New York Family Assistance
> Center. It was like a dream come true! They said they would love to
> have the Pumpkin, when could you deliver it? I told them I wanted to
> deliver it tomorrow on the 1-month anniversary of the crashing of the
> World Trade Center. I was told no problem; they would love to have it.
> I told them that I have to carve it first, then I could leave at
> 3:00am and I would be there by 4:00pm the next day. They said that
> would be great!
> My manager at work told me to go home and get it done. My wife
> Lorraine and I carved the pumpkin for 6 hours, only cutting it 1/2"
> deep into the skin, mostly because they wanted it to last for several
> weeks and this is the only way we could do it. Normally we cut right
> through to the inside, but if we did that it may not have lasted till
> Halloween.
> We started this operation at 4:00pm on Oct 10th and finished at 10pm.
> By the time we finished loading the pumpkin it was 11:00pm
> The finished face of the pumpkin had a little boy praying for the left
> eye and a little girl praying for the right eye, both the little boy
> and girl was surrounded by hearts. The nose were the firemen putting
> up the flag at the World Trade Center and the mouth was the word
> AMERICA shaped to make a smile.
>
> We wanted to tell everyone that had lost so much that they were in our
> hearts and in our prayers.
>
> I left for New York City on the morning of Oct. 11, 2001 at 3am.
> What a drive! The fall colors in the mountains in Pennsylvania were
> awesome! I have never saw so much beautiful country in one trip in my
> life (I kept humming, America the Beautiful the whole way).
> 30 miles from New York City I was starting to get a little worried I
> would miss a turn. All of a sudden a voice came on the CB, "Hey
> Michigan, How much that Pumpkin weigh?" I replied just over 500
> pounds." The voice came back. What are you doing with a pumpkin that
> is 500 pounds that says America on it?
> I replied that this pumpkin is going to the Red Cross Family
> Assistance Center in New York City. The radio got quite for a minute,
> then the voice said are you doing it by yourself or do you have
> someone sponsoring you? I told him that it started as my dream but
> that my boss at work in Michigan had helped me make it happen by
> letting me go home early to carve it and letting me have a few days
> off to make it happen!
> This truck driver from Buffalo, NY. I had never met in my life helped
> me for the next 30 miles! He said move over a lane, he said slow down
> the road is going to get rough for a few miles. It was almost like he
> was helping me drive my truck. This angel followed me all the way to
> my exit (the Lincoln Tunnel).
> When I left his company he said "Hey Michigan, when you get back home,
> tell your boss, that New York Says God Bless her for letting you come!
> I said thank you for getting me there!
> I made it to the Red Cross Center with no problem. Once I got there I
> had to go through an extensive search of my truck. I met some Great
> people! Several of the Police officers couldn't believe that the
> pumpkin was real (after a bomb sniffing dog checked it out, I guess
> they believed me). A police officers that had checked under the front
> of my truck told me not to worry, they did this to everyone! I told
> him that I understand. He laughed as he said you should have a license
> plate that says the Pumpkin Man. I smiled and told him " Thanks I once
> was that and I guess I am again today!"
> I was waiting to unload the pumpkin when one of the younger New York
> Police Officers asked me how long it took me to carve the pumpkin, I
> said about 6 hours, he shook his head in disbelief and said "God Bless
> you man!" Then he asked me how long it took me to get there, I said
> about 11 hours, he again said "God Bless you man!" I said I thought
> you guys would be happy. He said you cant even imagine how many kids
> you are going to make smile. I said thanks, that is why I came!
> We were both standing there smiling, then told me that his brother was
> in one of the towers that went down, I grabbed his shoulder and said
> "Dear God I am sorry"(we both looked into each others eyes and we were
> on the verge of tears!) He said "you came so far and I cant believe
> you care so much." I told him "everyone I know in Michigan and all
> over the United States cares as much as I do!" He then pointed to all
> of the police officers from all over the United States that were
> helping, and started naming all the different states they were from,
> then he said, "but to have someone come like you did, means you really
> care!" I replied I have had a knot in my stomach and tears in my eyes
> since this all began, all of you have been in our hearts ever since!"
> "People like you are why I came!"
> On the 12 hour drive home I had smile on my face and a tears in my
> eyes thinking about all of the angels who had forever touched my life.
> My only goal in going to New York was to help all the people that lost
> so much feel a little better.
> Thank you American Red Cross for helping me achieve my goal and NY, NY
> for having me.
> God Bless You Man!
>
>
> William J. Garvey
>
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