'He opened the door and started crying'

Home work takes man by surprise

Brandon Nielsen says he was "totally surprised" and "overwhelmed" to find his Evergreen home had been completely overhauled while he was on vacation.

Nielsen pulled up to his driveway Saturday afternoon to find dozens of friends, neighbors and fellow church members working on his house.

"I was just speechless. I didn't have a clue," said Nielsen, a single father of two young children since his wife, Becky, died in a car crash south of Lakeside April 21. "I was certainly surprised and I surprised them because I came home early. It was very shocking. It was amazing. Nobody thinks they are going to come home to something like that."

Despite Nielsen's early arrival, the "extreme home makeover" went exactly as planned by Flathead County Commissioner Gary Hall and his wife, Jayne, the parents of Becky Nielsen.

"It was like a brand-new home when he got home," Hall said.

Work on the house started a week before, shortly after Nielsen and his children left on a trip to Oregon. In one week's time, the house's exterior was repainted and fixed up with up with some new windows, decorative shutters, new doors and landscaping. The driveway was paved and new concrete patios were poured in the front and back.

An old shed was removed and replaced with a new one. A bark-covered play area was put in the back yard. The interior was fixed up with some new furniture, paint, light fixtures and bathroom decor, and the entire interior underwent a deep cleaning.

Hall said that when Nielsen arrived, there were about 40 people working at the house, all of them volunteers.

"We were just blown away by the support," he said, noting that neighbors brought picnic tables over and bought pizza and pop for the entire work crew.

When Nielsen pulled up in front of his house, Hall said, it took several minutes for him to compose himself to get out of the vehicle.

"He opened the door to his car and he just started crying, and he's not a guy who cries easily," Hall said. "He just sat out on the street and stared at his house."

While Nielsen was away on vacation, he happened to be thinking about all the things he needed to do at his house.

"I'd been waiting most of the summer to do everything," said Nielsen, who works long hours as a manager at Tri-State Restaurant Equipment. "While I was away I was thinking I need to get this done. I need to do that."

That's easier said than done when caring for Eli, 2 1/2, and Ella, 1.

"I'm certainly blessed," Nielsen said. "My friends and family are amazing people. The amount of support I've received in the last six months has been unbelievable. They are unbelievable. My church, my family, all of them."

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com