It is now 2010, and history thus far has given us many heroes to help guide our, sometimes, misguided souls in the righteous direction.

John Lennon asked us to give peace a chance, Martin Luther King Jr. told us about his dream for a more accepting society. In reality, it doesn’t take much to be a super hero. Which brings me to acknowledge a local superman that came and helped my partner, my brother-in-law, and myself in a desperate time of need. That superman is our own Bob Smith of Grand Forks. I know a lot of you know Bob, and those who do can agree that he is an incredible man, and have your own Bob story. The people that don’t know him are truly missing out. This is my Bob story…

Anyone who travels Highway 3 to Vancouver knows of how unforgiving that highway can be. The people that don’t know, well, all I can tell you is that it’s not your typical Sunday drive up North Fork. When I blew my tires 45 minutes outside of Princeton, Bob was the only person that stopped to help us, and we are grateful he did, especially after finding out our spare tire was also flat. Bob didn’t hesitate to load the car into his trailer, and us into his truck. Now this was the first time the three of us have legitimately met Bob, so we were pretty well strangers, aside from the fact that we were from the same town, knew members of his family, and frequented his establishments.

As we drove along to the lower mainland, Bob shared many stories of his rescue efforts. Some of them we’re astonishing, some were heart wrenching, some inspiring, some completely hilarious! This is where I realized that this wasn’t JUST a coincidence and a blessing; this is what this man does. Bob sticks his neck out for his fellow man. Bob understands what it’s like to be in a bind and does what he can to make it easier for the people suffering. His actions are exactly what this world needs more of, and I only hope that the people reading this remember the times they could have used a helping hand from a total stranger and apply that to someone’s rescue. Whatever it is, be someone’s hero.

So to conclude this I would just like to put this thought in your head: What can you do today to put a smile on someone’s face?

Oh, and Bob... Thank you so much for what you did. Brent, Nicole and I will keep paying your heroism forward.

Biatta Musaev,

Grand Forks