New Mexico church members house 44 stranded travelers during blizzard
Motorists from Texas, Colorado and Oklahoma were among those stranded en route to ski resorts on Dec. 29, when a deadly blizzard struck the area. The Glovers, whose home is about 40 miles west of Clayton just off U.S. 56, heard a group of stranded drivers via the two-way radios they use to communicate from the house to their workshop.
“We live, literally, 150 yards from the highway,” said Randy Glover, “but no one could see our house because the conditions outside were so terrible.”
For three nights, four-dozen people slept wherever they could find room (Randy Glover snoozed on the kitchen linoleum one night.) They shared one bathroom. Small groups passed the time much as they would at a family reunion, alternately napping, playing board games or dominos and preparing food or cleaning up.
“Everyone had a role to fill, it seemed like, and it was a group of people who were willing and happy to do whatever they could to help everyone out,” Randy Glover said. “They were courteous, considerate and grateful. Some were also scared, so we tried to be reassuring to them. We’ve been through this kind of thing before, but never with so many people.”
Providentially, one of the first guests at the Glover home was a truck driver carrying a large load of dry goods. His cans of soup, boxes of pastries and cases of toiletries sustained the crowd of 33 adults and 15 children, including the Glovers’ two children: 9-year-old Lance and 3-year-old Linzie.
“If it hadn’t of been for Scott and his boss letting him break the seal on that truck, we’d have been eating things no one would under normal circumstances,” Randy Glover said.
Christine Glover said she felt a little depressed when everyone left.
“They say we’re all going to meet back here a year from now, and we’re going to do this again,” she said. “They’re already planning the reunion.”
Randy Glover said he expects some of their new friends will call or stop by under better circumstances.
“We did get to be pretty good friends with all these people,” he said. “We’ve talked to several since then, shared e-mails and phone calls, that sort of thing. Some we’ll see again, some we might not.”
A few have returned, either to show friends where they spent the blizzard or to thank the couple again for their hospitality. But these modern-day Good Samaritans say they were just doing what was right.
“A lady at church told me she didn’t think she could do what we did,” Randy Glover said, adding that talk-show host Geraldo Rivera said the same thing in an interview via satellite in New York.
“The Bible tells us to serve people, and that’s all we did. We’re not heroes or super-human. We’re just Christians.”
“We live, literally, 150 yards from the highway,” said Randy Glover, “but no one could see our house because the conditions outside were so terrible.”
For three nights, four-dozen people slept wherever they could find room (Randy Glover snoozed on the kitchen linoleum one night.) They shared one bathroom. Small groups passed the time much as they would at a family reunion, alternately napping, playing board games or dominos and preparing food or cleaning up.
“Everyone had a role to fill, it seemed like, and it was a group of people who were willing and happy to do whatever they could to help everyone out,” Randy Glover said. “They were courteous, considerate and grateful. Some were also scared, so we tried to be reassuring to them. We’ve been through this kind of thing before, but never with so many people.”
Providentially, one of the first guests at the Glover home was a truck driver carrying a large load of dry goods. His cans of soup, boxes of pastries and cases of toiletries sustained the crowd of 33 adults and 15 children, including the Glovers’ two children: 9-year-old Lance and 3-year-old Linzie.
“If it hadn’t of been for Scott and his boss letting him break the seal on that truck, we’d have been eating things no one would under normal circumstances,” Randy Glover said.
Christine Glover said she felt a little depressed when everyone left.
“They say we’re all going to meet back here a year from now, and we’re going to do this again,” she said. “They’re already planning the reunion.”
Randy Glover said he expects some of their new friends will call or stop by under better circumstances.
“We did get to be pretty good friends with all these people,” he said. “We’ve talked to several since then, shared e-mails and phone calls, that sort of thing. Some we’ll see again, some we might not.”
A few have returned, either to show friends where they spent the blizzard or to thank the couple again for their hospitality. But these modern-day Good Samaritans say they were just doing what was right.
“A lady at church told me she didn’t think she could do what we did,” Randy Glover said, adding that talk-show host Geraldo Rivera said the same thing in an interview via satellite in New York.
“The Bible tells us to serve people, and that’s all we did. We’re not heroes or super-human. We’re just Christians.”
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