19th December
A friend through Age UK shared his favourite memory of Christmas.
Before retirement, he was a truck driver for many years, and did a lot of long haul haulage, including many trips to Scotland and some to the Scottish islands. One year, he was at the port waiting for a sailing to the Outer Hebrides and there was so much snow and ice that the roads were closed.
He was okay – he pulled over to somewhere safe, had heating in his cab, and lots of blankets, and there were a few other drivers there too. It was quite a nice atmosphere and there was lots of camraderie on the road, so it was a different Christmas, but they weren’t alone. Still, they’d rather be home for Christmas and there was no telling when the roads would reopen.
They were snowed in for a few days. On Christmas Day, they were approached by the local police, and he was wondering what they wanted. There wasn’t a lot that the drivers could do. Imagine his surprise when they saw that the policemen were actually bringing them hot coffee, mince pies, and blankets!
He saw a lot while he was driving on the roads, but that was one of his favourite memories. You can’t beat that!
