Company paves its way into family's hearts
<p>Jim Lawson, of Coeur d'Alene Paving, uses a wacker plate compactor to level new asphalt to make Lucky Bedwell's house driveway wheel-chair accessible on Thursday.</p>
<p>Lucky Bedwell watches from inside his house as workers lay and level blacktop for his driveway on Thursday.</p>
<p>Bodie Hernandez, right, levels blacktop for Lucky Bedwell's driveway on Thursday.</p>
POST FALLS — Looking through his living room window Thursday, Lucky Bedwell expressed appreciation as he watched a crew pave his driveway.
Bedwell, who was injured in a car crash in 1973, and his 23-year-old daughter Jessie, who has cerebral palsy, are wheelchair-bound.
The two and their caregivers have long struggled with maneuvering over the rocky driveway of their Post Falls home, so when Coeur d'Alene Paving agreed to not only apply compact dirt but pave the surface for free, Bedwell was all smiles.
"This will be much easier on all of us," the 59-year-old said as the work was being done Thursday. "It's been rough on the caregivers to drag the wheelchairs through."
Coeur d'Alene Paving paved about 2,000 square feet of driveway and a length of roughly 80 feet. Compact dirt was applied to the rest of the driveway. The total value of the job was about $4,000.
"We enjoy giving back to the community," said Shane Rubow, asphalt foreman. "I know the whole crew gets satisfaction out of it."
Craig Cozad, an owner of the company, said he felt bad for the Bedwells and wanted to assist.
"We're just a small locally owned and operated company that wants to be a part of the community," he said. "They have a home, but if you can't get in and out, what good is that?"
Caregiver Wendy Johnson knew first-hand the hurdles the driveway presented.
"It was like the bottom of a lake," she said. "Them rocks were rough."
Johnson inquired to see if Coeur d'Alene Paving does community service work and, when the company agreed, she figured the surface would only be compacted dirt.
"They got ahold of me after they looked at the driveway and said something definitely needs to be done," she said. "They definitely went above and beyond what I expected. They're doing it out of their heart. It's overwhelming."
Johnson said the good deed couldn't have happened to more deserving folks.
"Lucky has done an incredible job with Jessie," she said. "He just rolls with life and takes things in stride, and I wish I had that ability. When I get (cranky), he calms me down."
Jessie is special as well, Johnson said.
"She's limited on her verbal abilities, but that girl hears everything that is going on," Johnson said. "She even gets my jokes."