DADADEL
A repairman was called in for emergency home repairs one evening by a woman whose military husband was deployed. She trusted a local business to handle the job. However, she was stunned when the repairman, aware of her husband’s absence, made an advance, referring to it as “putting the milk on the table.”
Bridget Stevens, a soldier’s wife and busy mom of two young boys, immediately sensed a problem with her furnace when she came home to a cold house. Normally, she would rely on her husband, Bobby, for such repairs, but he was deployed overseas with the National Guard. Nevertheless, Bridget reached out to him via text for assistance.
Bobby attempted to guide her through the fix over the phone, but it didn’t work. With Bobby’s suggestions not resolving the issue, Bridget contacted Betlyn Heating and Cooling in Moon Township, Pennsylvania. Fortunately, Paul Betlyn, the company’s owner, answered and patiently offered numerous suggestions over the phone to help her.
Despite his recent knee replacement and the fact that he wasn’t supposed to be working, the kind-hearted 65-year-old repairman drove to Bridget’s Pittsburgh-area home to inspect the furnace himself when none of his advice seemed to fix the problem. As he got to work, he and Bridget quickly struck up a conversation.
“As he was working on the furnace, we got to talking about Bobby and the deployment,” she recalled, according to the Daily Mail. “After he was finished, I was a little apprehensive about how much it was going to cost. He handed me the slip that is in this photo,” Bridget wrote in a Facebook post. She was pleasantly surprised when she read the note.
“I had mentioned in passing that I tried to figure it out with my husband, but since he’s deployed and couldn’t see it, he wouldn’t know what to do,” Bridget explained. After hearing that Bobby was deployed, Paul decided to give Bridget a “deployment discount” to thank her husband for his service. When he handed her the bill, Bridget was at a loss for words.
Instead of charging her the usual $150 service fee, the repairman wrote her total as just $1 — though the job was completely free of charge. “When I tried to give him any money at all, he said that the $1 was a joke and to thank my husband for his service,” explained Bridget, who was deeply touched by this selfless act of kindness.
Bridget was deeply moved by the exceptional service provided by Paul. “I was completely overwhelmed and in shock when Paul handed me the slip,” she shared with ABC News. “I didn’t really know what to say, and I still have a hard time finding the words to truly express my appreciation,” she added. However, Mr. Betlyn’s kindness didn’t end there.
Following his encounter with Bridget, the repairman initiated a “Military Deployment Kisses Fund” to support families separated by lengthy deployments. In the campaign’s description on GoFundMe, Paul highlighted the challenges faced by families like Bridget’s, where deployed spouses only receive limited leave. Bridget and others often need to fly overseas to reunite with their loved ones.
Paul aimed to assist families facing financial strains during military deployments. His initiative aimed to fund trips for families, like Bridget’s, to visit loved ones abroad. Within three days, nearly $5,000 was collected, swiftly reaching over $17,000. Despite the success, Paul humbly rejects the title of hero.
Acknowledging the real heroes, Paul emphasizes the deployed individuals and their sacrifices. He attributes his actions to a family tradition of compassion, citing his grandfather’s selfless acts during the Great Depression. The repairman said: “I’m not the hero here. The deployed, they’re the heroes. My grandfather was a milkman during the Great Depression and many times he’d go to the door and the woman didn’t have any money for milk. But, the baby was crying in the background. So, he’d put the milk on the table. And, when I heard about Bridget with her husband being deployed…I put the milk on the table.”
