It looked as though it was going to be one of your worst nightmares come true, but thankfully, despite those who believe the contrary, Okotoks has not lost its small town attitude.
Last Friday as the temperature dipped well below -30 degrees my family battled the elements to take in the Santa Claus parade in High River and wander through the shops afterwards.
Later that evening I noticed several missed calls on my phone as did my wife. Tucked into the pockets of our parkas we could not hear them ring.
Finally, our frantic daughter reached us.
She was dropped off by a friend, but due to the frigid cold our garage pin pad would not work and she could not get into the house. A house we just moved into.
Frozen and frightened she went to our neighbour’s and knocked on the door.
When they opened the door they saw a four-foot icicle with fogged up glasses standing in their doorway.
They welcomed the lost puppy inside until she could reach her sister who rushed home to let her in our house.
When she finally reached mom and dad we too rushed home to make sure she was alright.
However, as we drove up our street we saw a fire truck parked outside our house with lights flashing.
My heart started pounding and my wife grabbed my hand as we hurried up the icy street.
Did something happen to our daughter who was home alone? Was our new house on fire?
Another neighbour two doors down came out onto the street and assured us our home was fine. In fact, all the commotion was at their home as their CO2 alarm had gone off and they were forced to evacuate.
They were sitting in their car as Colin Sager and the rest of the Okotoks fire crew tried to ventilate the home and wait for ATCO to arrive.
We invited them into our house, put on the coffee and had a wee nip to warm up.
We checked on our daughter who was shaken up, but fine thanks to our neighbours and we tucked her into bed.
Downstairs we visited with our new friends until they were allowed back home at 3 a.m.
It was a long night, but it was a wonderful, albeit odd, way to meet our new neighbours.
Once again, thank you Okotoks for coming to the rescue of a family in need.
