A kindhearted neighbor surprised an injured veteran who lives next door by building him a brand-new deck to relax on. Joel Zylstra, 55, from Grand Rapids, Michigan, has known his neighbor, Clyde, and his wife, Tiffany, for around 15 years. Throughout this time, Joel said Clyde and Tiffany have been very kind neighbors, surprising his wife with the likes of a flowering plant on Mother's Day and always showing a friendly face. One day, while Joel was building his own deck, Clyde approached and said he wished he had a small deck to step away from his home, grill, and leave his regular chair too. So, Joel decided to pay it forward and surprise him by building exactly that – and when Clyde, who Joel believes is in his 60s, was in Chicago for the weekend, he got to work. It was during this point Joel also discovered Clyde had a bad back, knees and chronic pain from being an Army paratrooper – something his humble neighbor had never even mentioned to Joel, who didn’t know he was a veteran. Then, on June 15, once Clyde had returned, Joel surprised him with the wonderful new deck, which clearly touched his neighbor.
00:00Joel's known Clyde for 15 years, but his humble neighbor had never revealed his heroic past.
00:09After quitting his corporate job, Joel was working in his yard one day when his neighbor approached.
00:25That's when Joel decided to pay it forward.
00:28And I thought, you know what, I'm going to build him a little deck, just for Father's Day.
00:33He's a great, great neighbor.
00:36I just talked to the park manager about that mess you got on the side there.
00:39Park manager's right here.
00:40Yeah.
00:42She said it's okay if I build a deck for you.
00:47Yeah.
00:48Yeah.
00:52You want a place to grill and stuff, right?
00:54Right, yeah, yeah.
00:55Well, he said, okay with you, you just got to move some of that clutter out of the way and I'll start.
01:00It'll be done by the night.
01:02I don't have to look.
01:03It's all in the back of my truck.
01:06No, I'm not.
01:07I'm kidding.
01:08I got a buddy.
01:13I'm kidding.
01:13I'm kidding.
01:14It's not you.
01:15Yeah.
01:15It's a Father's Day gift.
01:19No hurry.
01:19Yeah.
01:20Yeah.
01:22And I'll get started.
01:24That's okay with you.
01:25Sure.
01:25All right.
01:28Here's the spot.
01:29Let's go.
01:30It was during this project Joel learned Clyde's humble secret.
01:34He was an Army paratrooper left with chronic back and knee pain from his service.
01:38I had no idea, even after knowing him for 15 years, that he served in the military.
01:44He had mentioned that he couldn't build the deck himself because his knees and his back were just always in chronic pain.
01:51I started building the deck and he came out and said, yeah, he had done too many jumps when he was younger.
01:56And I said jumps and he said, yeah, I was a paratrooper in the military and it took its toll on me.
02:01Knowing this, Joel poured even more heart into the deck, even adding special features to aid his knees.
02:08You look way taller than me.
02:34I am taller.
02:35I'm standing on top of the world right then.
02:36And right then and there, it's a feeling I rarely get.
02:41And after it was all said and done, how he said he was standing on top of the world, that moment right there made me feel better than every paycheck I've ever made in my life.
02:53That was the payoff for me.
02:56But seeing the joy and the happiness, it was incredible.
