Acts of Random Kindness to You

Imagine waking up one morning in a little north country town and having the free library destroyed by fire. That is exactly what happened in the small community of Depauville, NY. Maybe it is the reader in me or maybe it is the teacher, but whatever it is, it made me sad.

I hadn’t heard much about this little library in quite some time and then last night on our local news, they finally mentioned that it is repaired and ready to roll with one exception. There are still no books. Oh, not to worry, they are working on establishing some grants and funds and probably are just plain happy to be back on their feet, but in the meanwhile, the shelves remain bare and the library closed.

So, I began talking today with a few of my students. It isn’t my community and it isn’t their community, but it is a north country community nonetheless. I have a few extra sets of brand new books that I had purchased and received and the light bulb went on. So, my students looked up the address to the little library and filled out the envelope in preparation of sending them some books to put on their shelves.

These books by themselves won’t reopen the little Depauville Free Library, but they will let the good people there know that we are thinking of them and wishing them well. Did you find something kind to do today? Big or small, remember it is all about making the world a better place one act of random kindness at a time.

I don’t think I have mentioned in prior posts that I have the good fortune of working with children. However, even better than that is the fact that I don’t work with just any children, I work with high school age kids that have a few learning difficulties. This is an awesome job because they know what it means to struggle and often times, some of the toughest ones in the classroom are the kindest to the underdogs in the building. Let me share a couple of examples.

The other day we had a fire drill and as we headed down the three flights of stairs, I somehow got separated from a young lady that struggles with her vision. As the hundreds of students pushed down the stairwell, I was worried she was going to stumble. However, no sooner than I worried,  a young man also from my classroom did something amazing. This young man, turned around and handed the girl the back of his shirt. Slowly, her guided her down the rest of the stairs and out to the parking lot without incident. There he stood in the parking lot with this little bitty thing still holding tight to his shirt. He never asked her to let go or even indicated that he had done something so kind. He just stood there. I was so touched that I teared up.

Another incident several years ago still stays with me as well. I had this boy that was repeating his senior year and to put it mildly, he was the toughest case I had ever met. He had no parents, for all intents and purposes was homeless, but I knew he had something in him that nobody had gotten to yet. He became my mission that year. Throughout the year, somehow this boy began to care. Oh, he could still be a royal pain, but he started doing things like helping substitute teachers out when I was away or reading things to another student if I got busy across the room and they were struggling. He took kids under his wing that were overweight or that didn’t have friends and looked out for them in the cafeteria. In short, his heart began to shine. He graduated that year and people were amazed that he had made it.  I was amazed that nobody had noticed before what this young man was capable of being.

In short, don’t sell kids short in the game of kindness. They will engage in whatever is modeled for them. You don’t have to nag or preach to them, simply show them kindness and then stand back to watch the world become a better place for all of us.

I am sure many of you have read the children’s story called “Stone Soup” and are wondering what on earth that has to do with being kind.  I don’t know about anywhere else in the country, but here in Northern NY, it means a lot about random kindness.

Several local churches have started having what they call Stone Soup dinners. These dinners are free to anyone and everyone. It makes no difference if you have no money or if you are a millionaire just looking for someone to have dinner with while enjoying their company.

The dinners seem to be a hit and due to the church making it known that this isn’t simply a charity event, they seem to be bringing the communities closer. The dinners are anything from a full turkey dinner to meatloaf dinner to a pancake dinner depending on the week.

I think that organized religion should do more things like this and open their doors to everyone for something so heartwarming. The prices of everything are going up and people in the world are feeling more and more isolated, so what a great thing this concept could turn out to be for everyone. If you get a chance in your area, pass it on.

After all, the world would be a better place if we all found just a little more kindness.

I was reading a little newspaper here yesterday and it had a little blurb about a story from back in 1995. As I am always looking for heartwarming and inspirational stories, it caught my eye. Many of you have probably heard the story, but as for me, I must have been too busy worrying about college to pay attention to the kindness of others in the world.

Anyway, as the story has it, a man got his hands on a million dollar monopoly piece.  It appears that the where and how of getting this piece might have been shady, but that isn’t the heart of the story. So, he mailed this piece to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. Can you imagine their reaction to receiving a million dollar donation?

Of course, when it came around to being possibly a stolen piece, you would think that takes the heart from the story. Until, the huge corporation Mcdonalds decided to honor the donation anyways in $50,000 payments each year until it is fully paid.  That put McDonalds on a new level in my eyes and that was truly an Act of Random Kindness.

Sometimes we need to remember that Acts of Random Kindness certainly aren’t apparent at the outset of something we do and they usually aren’t million dollar acts, but every one of them counts in making the world a better place to live. Have a great day!

My father has Alzheimer’s disease and it is advancing very quickly. He is only 63 years old and it makes it tough on my mother who is still working full time as an ER nurse. She has to work overnights to allow the rest of us to be home while she works. It becomes exhausting.

However, one good thing has come out of all of this. My brother and his wife along with my husband and myself have grown closer and closer. We rely on each other to get through what needs to be done.

You always hear when you are younger that the day will come you will need your siblings. Of course, at that time you don’t believe it, but it is true. We were lucky in that we married good spouses and that we all have good careers with some flexibility.

So, the next time you get upset with a family member, just remember how very much you might need them one day.

This weekend, I had an opportunity to participate in a very moving event. It lasted only 10 minutes or so, but will remain with me for years to come. It cost me nothing, but time to participate and I am a better person for having been a part.

A 20 year-old soilder was killed in action in Iraq on January 6th. It was not unusual to hear about as I live right near Fort Drum, NY which is a very heavily deployed base. However, what was unusual is that this young man grew up and went to school in the community closest to ours. The media asked people to please join the community by lining the sides of the streets as he returned home for his last time.

As the flashing lights could be seen in the distance, businesses began to close and employees filtered to the streets with the rest of us. Veterans stood at attention at the local VFW for an hour before this young man’s arrival back home. It was silent as the fire department, police cars, soilders, and finally this young man’s family passed through the streets. The casket passed and both adults and children held their flags a little higher and placed their hands on their hearts. It was a tribute to a fallen hero.

I can’t imagine what it was like to be at war or even what it is like as a family to get that message, but I have no doubts that the family was made proud by their community on this Saturday morning. It brings tears to my eyes even now as I replay it in my mind.

The kindness shown by this community cost nothing except a little bit of time. However, the pride and peace it must have brought the family is not measurable. Please keep both your local military members as well as all military members in your hearts and minds. It is not about our opinions on the war, it is about humans losing their lives for us and for our freedom.