Americans are known for their kindness and helpful nature toward strangers. In leaner times, it has been noted, Americans huddle together to weather the storm. So is the case with a miraculous story that formed an instant lifetime bond between two Texas residents, Tracy Orr and her "guardian angel" Marilyn Mock.
A tear-streaked Tracy Orr sat in the back row of a foreclosure auction watching bidders in the front row vie for her 4-bedroom home in Pottsboro, Texas at a much-reduced rate from when she bought it back in 2004. Orr, who lost her job only months after the purchase, has struggled to keep her beloved home ever since, finally losing her grip after having sold some land to satisfy arrears. Her last-ditch effort was to make the 80-mile drive into Dallas for the auction with an investor friend, who cancelled the plans at the last minute, so Orr sat at the back of the auction with her family, her home in the catalog without even a photograph in the listing, fighting back her tears.
That is when Marilyn Mock sat down beside her, asking Orr if she was there to buy a home. At this point, Tracy Orr lost her battle with tears that now flowed freely as she explained: "That's my house." On the blind, Marilyn Mock jumped into the bidding action and bought the home that was once bought by the Orr family at $80,000 for the bargain of $30,000. Mock, a business owner who deals in flagstone and other rocks in Rockwall, Texas, decided to guarantee the sale with one of her dump trucks as collateral. She had come to the auction with her 27-year-old son to purchase his first home and once finished, stumbled upon Tracy Orr.
Marilyn Mock is one who loves people, never giving up the opportunity to speak with others around her. She claims that you can always find out interesting things when you are open to people, and in striking up a conversation with Tracy Orr, she felt she HAD to do something to help. As for payment for the house, Mock is willing to see how much Tracy Orr can pay for the house so she can have it back with a comfortable payment arrangement. When Mock went home and told her husband that she just bought a house for a complete stranger, her husband did not flinch. He is used to her Good Samaritan nature. She cannot walk past a homeless person on the street without offering at least something.
Tracy Orr was in shock at the turn of her luck in several seconds' time. Her restored faith in life and humanity has given her the strength to keep going and hold her head up high. Her house is located near a popular Texas fishing spot and Mock's passion for fishing is satisfied for life, for she has a lifetime friend with a home to stay in on all future angling trips.