The end of each year is a time I tend to reflect on the prior year’s achievements and failures to look forward to the possibilities of a new year and to be thankful for all life’s gifts, the most important of which are friends and family. While I have many reasons to be thankful for my family and friends this past year, there is one event that made me profoundly grateful for both.
My oldest son, Ben, had just been home for Thanksgiving weekend and needed to return to Butte for his classes the next day at Montana Tech. He got a later start than usual as he was waiting for a friend who was catching a ride back to school with him. It turned out that it was just enough of a delay to allow a snowstorm to hit the area as he was leaving Missoula. While he was at the front of the storm to begin with, it quickly enveloped him and every other traveler on I-90 that afternoon. By the time he reached Garrison Junction, he had witnessed multiple vehicles slide off the road and saw a multi-vehicle accident happen right in front of him. He safely pulled to the side of the road where he called his mother to ask if we would get a hotel room for them to safely spend the night in Deer Lodge, as they were rattled. Of course, Mama-Bear got right to work looking for hotel options, which she quickly found were limited.
Once we realized a hotel was not going to be a great option for him, we decided that I should reach out to a fellow MIB board member who just happens to live in the same town where my son found himself stranded, Tom Christnacht. After explaining the situation to Tom, he offered to host Ben and his friend at his house until the roads improved either that night or the next morning. It was obvious to me just how rattled Ben was with driving because he was willing to stay the night in an absolute stranger’s home, not that Tom or his generous wife, Janet, remained strangers to anyone for long. What a relief and a blessing for both Beth and me to know that they would be safe and off the treacherous roads that night.
The point of telling you my story is this: had I not chosen to join MIB several years ago and make a lot of great connections with other bankers across the state, I would not have gotten to know Tom and his wife, Janet, and I would not have had a great option for my son when he found himself stranded in the snowstorm. I joked with Tom that this was an incredible MIB member benefit and he agreed. We do remarkable things together as an organization, and this is the legacy we leave behind for the next generation. The friendships and experiences we create along the way, I believe, are ours to keep forever.
We are definitely stronger together!
