Back in June or early July, I submitted an essay in response to a contest being held by one of my insurance companies that I place business with. They insure a lot of trucking accounts and were looking for stories about heroes in trucking. My candidate was my brother in law.
Last week, I was notified that my essay was one of 8 winners nationwide - I won a $1,000 prize and I think there is a donation to a pro-trucking charity in my brother in law's name. I'll be splitting the prize money with my brother in law.
This was my entry:
Brian is the kind of person that puts everyone else first and would truly give the shirt off of his back if it would help another person. He drives a truck for Cardinal Health, delivering medical supplies to hospitals throughout Illinois and Wisconsin. He has driven through many winter and summer storms, including a blizzard in 2011 that kept him from making it home to his family after his shift when streets became impassable with over two feet of snow and blowing drifts that were even higher. He slept on a stranger’s couch that night, because his hospitals needed their supplies more than he needed to be at home safe in his bed. There have been countless times where his shift ends hours later than he expected because of difficult weather conditions and I have never heard him complain – it is just part of the job and he’ll go with less sleep that day. His routes have taken him on interstate highways with high winds and icy conditions or through a celebratory city of Chicago on the night that the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup and the streets were flowing with people, causing delays and re-routing due to the crowds.
Brian has navigated the covid pandemic with more grace than I have, dealing with driver shortages, changes in routes, mitigation measures enacted by both his employer and the hospitals that he delivers to and continuing to ensure that his deliveries are on time so that the hospitals have the PPE that they desperately needed to continue to protect our front-line medical personnel. He will regularly work through the night with little sleep, drop his children off at school, nap for a few hours and then go off to football or hockey practice where he coaches his children. Weekends are full of coaching sporting events and family time before he heads off to work on Sunday night.
I can’t think of a more deserving candidate for Acuity’s Trucker Appreciation contest. Brian remains one of my closest role-models as a parent, employee and family member. He’s shown me how to be a better father to my children and to try and roll with the punches that life throws at you. I have never known a more selfless individual, committed to his family and career. Thank you Brian, and thank you to all of our nation’s truckers for your hard work, dedication and sacrifices!
Topic: What made you happy today? (Read 97052 times)
