“I told him that should be the last of your worries,” he said.

Asked what it was like when Hefta walked in to rescue her, Paschke said, “I thought I was in heaven already.”

Hefta was recognized for the lifesaving feat Thursday with the Postmaster General Award, the highest award a mail carrier can receive. He was bestowed the award in a ceremony at the post office in Minto, a town of about 600 people 30 miles north of Grand Forks. His name will also be added to the Heroes Wall at the Postal Service headquarters in Washington.

“I'm quite honored, actually. I've never had anything like this happen to me. Pretty big honor,” he said, noting that it was part of his training as a mail carrier to check on vulnerable people.

Paschke also made it to the post office Thursday, marking the first time she and Hefta have been reunited since that January day.

“Just a good mailman, and I can't forget him,” Paschke said. “For the rest of my life, for as long as my memory works, I'm going to remember.”

Now Alice lives in a nursing home in Grafton, along someone else's mail route. So Hefta no longer gets a Rice Krispie treat and a can of Coke as a midday snack.

“Now I got to pack my own drinks,” Hefta said with a laugh.

Love 38 Funny 1 Wow 4 Sad 1 Angry 1