Paying It Forward

continued

Since then, the shop has received notes from both Kelly's sister-in-law and his mother, thanking them for "helping one of my heroes who served our country," "making this a true Christmas for us," and "being his angel." Early one morning, they discovered that Kelly had dropped off a package of coffees, mugs, sugar, creamer, and seven loaves of zucchini bread.

"The doctor told me that there will come a time when the chemo won't do anything, and I won't be returning to Ann Arbor," Kelly says. But he plans to continue to meet with his friends as long as he is able.

In the meantime, his repaired truck has enabled Kelly to visit family and friends in Pennsylvania and West Virginia--"my bucket list," he says. Customers, who learned of Williams' generosity via a Main Street Motors Facebook posting, have offered to help pay for the repairs. Williams has declined those offers, but is considering accepting donations to help Kelly with gas and other essentials. "It would be one less thing he'd need to worry about," he says.   

[Originally published in February, 2013.]