Despite our social-media bickering about stay-or-go, and the occasional cheap shots at tourists, government officials and each other, the Outer Banks community has once again shown its true colors. And they’re beautiful. Rather than listen to us ramble on about all the heart-warming things we’ve seen and heard the last few days, we’re going to leave you with this story out of Ocracoke, where a local resident showed an amazing kindness to a visiting family trying to evacuate. Here it is, names removed because we’d like to believe this could have been any of us: 

“Long story short, our totally packed Ford Explorer broke its drive shaft while we were heeding the mandatory evacuation orders to leave Ocracoke island. Mind you it’s 90-plus degrees out, too. We limped back into town in four-wheel drive making all kinds of a racket. All island services were shut down — Jimmy’s garage, the towing company, as they prepared for the storm.  

“As we made our way to high ground to abandon the car, pull out necessary items and simply walk onto the ferry, a sweet family pulled up beside us and offered to let us borrow their car. She cleans houses on the island and uses the van for her business but they had her husband’s car and we could use hers. We didn’t even know each other’s name only that the cottage we had rented on the island was across the street from where they lived and they recognized us coming and going for the last two days.  

“She raced back to pick up her van and clear it of her work supplies. When she returned it was full of gas. She gave us the keys. We then exchanged phone numbers and names. Today we meet her in Greenville, where her family was going to ride out the storm, and we returned the van to her. She also said her sister goes back and forth from Greenville to Ocracoke cleaning houses and she would help us get the car back to Clayton after it got fixed so we wouldn’t have to go all the way back to the island. She didn’t want to take the [money] I wanted to give her but I insisted. Bless you … you are forever welcome in my home, held in my heart and counted as an angel among us.”