A New Brunswick man says his faith in humanity has been restored.
Donald Gallant of Pointe-du-Chêne, N.B., says a kind gesture from a local auto glass shop — replacing his windshield free of charge — was a surprise that turned around the holiday season for him.
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He says his windshield was shattered after snow was plowed from an overpass and came crashing down onto his vehicle as he was driving on Route. 15.
“To (see) this community come up, and step up, and actually really do something truly amazing … really blew my mind,” he said.
Gallant’s girlfriend, Sylvie Nadeau, attempted to cover the costs to surprise her boyfriend.
“I went in that day and asked Jeff, the owner, to not allow (Donald) to pay for it ahead of time,” she said.
“She wanted to pay it back to him as a Christmas present, and I thought. ‘We don’t have kids, we like passing things along,'” said Jeff Hendrickson, who owns Shediac Glass & Maintenance.
“So, I thought I’d give them both a Christmas present and give them a free windshield.”
Hendrickson left Gallant and Nadeau with a simple request: pay it forward.
“Pass it along,” said Hendrickson. “See how far good will go.”
“To see someone in the community that I didn’t know, had met once to drop off my truck, to do that for me, really instilled a true faith in humanity,” said Gallant.
“A true belief that people are really, good.”
So to keep with Hendrickson’s wishes, the couple went out — with Gallant dressed as Santa — and delivered a couple gifts to two families they knew were having a tough holiday season.
“It really put the drive of Christmas spirit into us,” said Gallant.
So after going through ups and downs, Gallant and Nadeau were not only able to avoid the stress of replacing a windshield, they were also able to pass along some good deeds.
“Giving a little bit goes a long way sometime,” said Hendrickson.