The Beaverdale community in Des Moines, Iowa, has been known for its Christmas lights for the last decade, and this year a stranger helped one sick man keep with the tradition by hanging thousands of lights for him.
Dale and Julie Marks have only lived in the Beaverdale community for the past three years, and when they moved in, they decided to join in on the Christmas cheer, the couple told the Washington Post.
However, this year was made a little more complicated after Dale Marks suffered two strokes when the couple contracted COVID-19.
While Julie Marks recovered with no problems, Dale Marks was hospitalized for nearly a month. He was sent home on Nov. 2 to finish his recovery, but he was not strong enough to decorate like in years past, Julie Marks said to the Post.
“We thought that ours would be the only dark house in the neighborhood this year,” Julie Marks said. “We were feeling really sad about it.”
However, a call from a stranger who goes by “Bob the Builder” changed the entire situation.
A Des Moines contractor, Bob Coffey, had heard from a friend about what the couple was going through and decided he would do all he could to help, despite never meeting the couple.
“I grew up just three miles from where Dale and Julie live,” Coffey said to the Post. “When I was a kid, my parents would take me and my siblings to see the lights in their neighborhood every year.”
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Coffey, to this day, continues the tradition with his own family, and when he heard what was going on, he said he had to do something.
“When I learned they could use some help, I knew I wouldn’t have a problem getting a volunteer crew together,” said Coffey, 56. “I called Julie and told her I’d love to put up their lights.”
So like a reverse Grinch, Coffey got four employees together on Nov. 15 after work to help decorate the Markses’ home. The group brought ladders, drills, duct tape, and zip ties to get the job down, taking a total of about three hours, the Post reported.
When Julie Marks saw what they had done, she could not believe it saying she “wanted to cry” because of their generosity.
“I’ve been so overwhelmed with Dale’s care that I knew there was no way we’d ever get those lights up by ourselves,” she said.
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Dale Marks is unable to speak because of a paralyzed vocal cord suffered from the stroke, but he shared in a text to the Post that he watched the men put his lights up from the front porch of his home.
“I was totally unsure as to how I was going to pull it off all the while I was in the hospital,” Dale Marks said. “As I sat out and watched, I was in tears watching Bob and his whole crew finish our lights. He’s truly a person near to my heart.”
Coffey shared that he and his employees were happy they could help, and everyone got a good chuckle when he plugged the two cords together like Clark Griswold.
“The memory of that afternoon will last a lifetime,” Coffey said, about seeing the impact he had on Dale and Julie Marks.
“It’s important in life to pay it forward,” Coffey said. “If everyone did something, think how that would add up.”
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