ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – A St. Augustine homeowner and his wife were surprised by Florida Power and Light with love and lights, and an emotional lift after some tough times.
More than 30 volunteers from FPL decorated the home. Their goal was showering some needed affection on a man who spent years serving in the United States Army.
"He's going to be amazed. I mean, read his story, heard he's been down on his luck, is going to bring him right back where he needs to be," FPL volunteer Bryan Swindell said. "He's going to be, you know, I can't even imagine trying to sleep tonight if I was him. I can't imagine. It's going to be crazy."
That craziness arrived about dusk when Sgt. 1st Class Kevin Crowell made it home.
"This is amazing. Definitely is," Crowell said. "I'm just amazed my wife can pull off stuff like this."
"Did she get you with the surprise?" News4Jax's Kent Justice asked.
"Yes, yes," Crowell said. "I don't understand how she does it."
Holiday lights adorned the mailbox, so it's festive. But just a couple months ago, this was the symbol of disaster in Hurricane Irma.
"We still have a claim with Hurricane Matthew. We're still fighting with that," Crowell said. "We just received some money from Hurricane Irma. We finally got a new A/C that Hurricane Matthew destroyed, but now, I mean, I know we wouldn't have lights. We wouldn't have a lot of things and I definitely wouldn't have that dog bed."
"I don't know if he is mentioned, but we don't really celebrate Christmas very much because it was a time that he was deployed, and it's been a long time since we've had a festive ambience at our house definitely," Lisa Crowell said.
FPL "elves" decorated and delivered an unforgettable holiday surprise for Kevin and Lisa Crowell. Officials with FPL said the home would be decorated with more than 1,000 energy-efficient LEDs and solar holiday lights.
The Crowells also have a lot of love for K-9s for Warriors. Bella is a service dog who became part of the family five years ago. She got a new bed as part of the big surprise. FPL officials said Kevin Crowell has given back by serving as an ambassador for the organization, educating the public on the importance of service animals.