82-yr-old visiting wife's memorial daily got worried when snowstorm blocked his path — until 2 strangers stepped in to help
An old man and grieving widower had one heartfelt ritual of visiting his late wife's memorial every single day, but he couldn't do it during winter. The path to her memorial was blocked with snow and really difficult to walk on. However, two park workers noticed the predicament of the old man, Bud Caldwell, and decided to do something about it, per CBS News.
The man lost his wife in 2013, after 55 years of being married to her. He dedicated a park bench for his beloved wife at Lakeside Park in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin and turned it into a memorial for her. It was a ritual for the man to visit the place every single day and to put a penny and a daisy there in her honor. The items are based on the couple's favorite songs, "Daisy a Day" and "Pennies from Heaven." He would also tell her about his day and talk to her photograph there. But during winters, it got difficult for the then 82-year-old to visit his wife Betty's memorial because the path leading up to the bench would be blocked by snow. The man daringly tried to walk through the snow one year, but he fell, so he didn't want to risk it again, per the local CBS station WDJT.
He would still visit the park and speak to his wife from his car. Caldwell didn't know that two men, Jerrod Ebert and Kevin Schultz, had been watching him and had decided to do something to clear the path for him. "It took us both back a little bit thinking, my gosh, his devotion is that strong that he still comes when he can't make it to the bench even," Ebert told CBS News. They had seen the man in front of his car and were able to put two and two together. So even though they didn't have to, they decided to make sure that they cleared the path for the man and he could easily reach the memorial.
"For most people, it's a path to nowhere. It's a path to somewhere for one person," Ebert pointed out. After that, the bench made in Betty's memory always had flowers. But Caldwell had never expected someone to notice what he had been doing. "One day I pulled up there and there was the walk shoveled. My knees about buckled on me." He had no idea why someone would put in so much effort to help him. "It was totally unexpected."
"We were just doing what we felt was our job. Some intuition, be it divine or otherwise, says this is why you're here — to help one another," Ebert felt. Caldwell hoped to leave a penny and a daisy at his wife's memorial as long as he could. "Good afternoon, dear. Well, it's a nice day. Cold, but nice. See you tomorrow, munchkin. Love you. Always did. Always will," the man told his wife, as he stood at her memorial back in 2015.