I remember driving to Palm Springs from San Diego two Thanksgivings ago. My parents rented a jeep, and then we were off to the mountains. None of us pictured an icy blizzard to cross paths with us on our California vacation, but one hour into the drive, the first snowflake fell.

My eyes lit up. I’d missed snow. Seeing it land on a prickly cactus made my eyes tear up. How I longed for cold Minnesota. Who knew such a simple thing like an icy flake would bring comfort.

As the altitude inclined, so did the storm. My mom turned up the radio and it crackled. I heard my parents mumbling softly about the storm as the radio played Christmas music.

It wasn’t long before we had no choice but to pull over. As our car slid to a stop, I squinted into the distance.

A line of cars as long as the Mississippi River was lined up. My dad pulled on his thin sweatshirt and stepped out into the wind. 

I wiped the frost from my window to see othesr slowly getting out of their cars and trudging in the snow. I remember one woman walked up to our car and asked us if we knew what was happening. 

All I knew was it was Thanksgiving, we were stuck in the mountains in a snowstorm, and I didn’t know when or if, we would get to Palm Springs. As reality sunk in and a pit formed in my stomach, tears started to stream down my face. 

Just then, another car came from behind, swerving to avoid hitting our car. The old man in the front slammed on the brakes and rushed out of the car. It didn’t take the us too long to realize his car was awfully near the edge of the mountain. I saw my mom biting her lip. I looked back at his car which was now slowly creeping more and more towards the side of the cliff. 

Suddenly, 10 people who were still sitting in their cars lept out. 

One kid had a skateboard and threw it towards his dad. 

From the car window, I watched an inspiring scene. 

Four people took the chains that protected their tires off their cars and put them on his tires. One person shoveled the snow out from his tires and tried to break the ice with his boot. 

Just as the old man’s car and all his belongings were about to be lost off the edge of the mountain, people stepped up and let their kind hearts override the snowstorm. 

Though it was thirty degrees, my heart was as warm as ever. 

This act of kindness just reminded me how thankful I am for people and moments like these.