Acts of Random Kindness to You

As I flipped through the channels last night, one of my favorite movies in the whole world was just ending. As you can probably guess from the title of this post, it was The Wizard of Oz. I watched the last few minutes of it where Dorothy clicks her heels and wants to be home once again.

Sometimes, life’s journey takes us away from that one place we consider home. I know for me, the one thing that was able to take me away was meeting Tom. I loaded up my stuff, quit a good job, and waved goodbye to everything I knew. However, three years later almost to the date, I was back home again.

For me, home isn’t a building, it is a community that is filled with familiar people, places, events, and yes at times even some really strange occurrences.  It is seeing the place I first went to school and getting ice cream from the same ice cream stand that I did years ago. Home is the place I fought with my brothers and then kept their secrets from my parents. Home is where I rode my first horse, drove my first car, and danced at my first prom.

I am fortunate in that circumstances allowed me to return home and in that I have a husband that was willing to move to this tiny town where he knew nobody if that was what made me happy. Sometimes, I wish I had more money and then I look around me and see how very rich I already am. I would love to hear what home is to you even if for some reason you have to be away from it for awhile.

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.

In our daily lives, it is sometimes the most difficult to remember to be kind to those that see you at your worst. I think part of this is because you know that they will always be there even if you aren’t at your best. Over the holidays, it became apparent to me just how important Acts of Random Kindness can be especially to family.

First, you should know that my father has been diagnosed with Alzheimers at a very young age. It is remarkable to me how very much this has brought the family together. Not only my mom, my brothers, and myself, but the extended family as well. My dad has a sister and a cousin that go out of their way to visit and make him feel important. Maybe he knows who they are, maybe he doesn’t, but he sure knows someone is there being kind to him. Imagine how that makes us feel around him.

Also, over the holidays, I had a cousin that lost twins shortly after they were born. It had to be devestating. My cousin and I have never been what I would call close, yet, on Christmas Eve, after all she had been through, she showed up with a gift for me. Her explanation was that her mom (who passed in February) had always thought a lot of me and gotten me a gift and she wanted that to continue.

So, in taking the time to be kind, remember to be kind to those around you the most often and that includes yourself. I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday and is looking forward to a good 2008 !!