My brother from the Netherlands visited us in NM and visiting the Petrified Forest in AZ was one of the things on his list. He had planned to make this trip with his wife of many years, but she recently passed away from cancer. He carefully planned this trip in dedication to her. Rather than renting a car, I offered him our Mercedes to make the trip from Albuquerque (Our SUV was in the shop). He made it as far as Gallup when he blew out a front tire in one of the potholes NM is famous for. He only had a limited amount of time scheduled for this visit as he was flying back to the Netherlands 2 days later. Needless to say, he called me in a panic as the car does not have a spare and the fix-a-flat that comes with the car can't fix a shredded tire. Our insurance includes free roadside assistance, so I got on the app and arranged for a tow truck. It took the tow truck company hours before they were on their way. When they were 20 minutes out, I got a message from the insurance company that they had cancelled the tow. I called the tow truck company back and told them to go pick him up anyway and that we would pay cash, and I would fight it out with the insurance company. Minutes later, the tow was re-instated with the insurance company, and he was taken to a Firestone shop in Gallup. Then, I got another notification that the insurance company had dispatched A CLASSY AUTORECOVERY from Gallup. I called them immediately to let them know the car had already been towed. I spoke with Dennis. He asked me what had happened and I explained the situation and told him my brother's trip was falling apart and the reason behind the trip. Since the Mercedes has an unusual tire size, a replacement would not be available until late the next day, and he would have to return to Albuquerque without being able to go to the Petrified Forest. By now, it was early evening. Dennis asked me what the tire size was and put me on hold for a minute. When he came back, he told me he had three tires of that exact size that were taken off a Lincoln and that they were practically brand new. I told him we'd buy two of the tires and he jumped in his van and ran them over to the Firestone shop and dropped them off just before they closed. After that, he drove over to the hotel where my brother was staying to collect the money for the tires. I described what my brother looked like and ironically, he intercepted him walking outside the hotel. He took him back to the hotel and collected the money. The story does not stop here. Dennis had already arranged with Emerson from Firestone that they would mount the tires first thing in the morning, at 6:30 AM. After that, he offered to pick up my brother at 6:20 AM at the hotel and take him to the Firestone shop. He also stopped to get him coffee on the way. Firestone completed mounting the tires before 8:00 AM and my brother could complete his emotional trip to the Petrified Forest. Dennis sold us the tires dirt cheap, didn't get the tow job since it was already completed, but did all of this out of the goodness of his own heart. It is wonderful to find that there are still people like him in this world. He was my brother's guardian angel for a while. My brother says he has a new best friend. While my brother was at the Petrified Forest, Dennis even checked back with me to make sure everything went smoothly and later that evening, he checked back with me to make sure he returned safely to Albuquerque. I'm not sure where Dennis hides his wings, but he's an angel in disguise!
A special thanks also goes to Emerson at the Firestone shop for fitting him in early, doing a perfect job mounting and balancing the tires and getting him on his way. read more
