Acts of Random Kindness to You

First of all, Happy 4th of July. If you are reading this than I want you to know that I appreciate you and your comments. For me today was one of those days where “Kindness” seemed all around and for no apparent reason. It seemed to just be Random !!

First, I was in the ATM drive thru line getting some money and a man approached. Okay, I am the first to admit that it wasn’t his smartest timing, but alas, he meant well. He had gotten out of his car and wanted us to know that we had a brake light out. I already knew this, but yet began to think about the hundreds of people who have probably noticed it and not said a word. People that were in much better positions to approach me and did not. For whatever reason, this man did and for that I felt fortunate.
After leaving the bank, we stopped at the Farmer’s Market with my mom and dad. As I have said before, my father is sick with Alzheimer’s Disease. Most people that know our family are aware of this and the reactions vary from overly friendly to obviously trying to avoid us. I can respect both approaches as it is not an easy thing to deal with even when you are around it every day. However, I am always grateful as I was today when someone seems genuinely glad to see him and shake his hand. He doesn’t know who they are, but for that moment, he is appreciated for the man that he has always been.

Finally, I want to close with a website that I found today. It is something that I think everyone should take a look at whether you are in need or are in a position to help someone else. Wish Upon a Hero is a website that allows just those types of connections to be made. You can go there and send school supplies to a needy child or you can go and ask someone to help with your needs. It is all based on just good old human decency. Will people take advantage? Sure, maybe some will, but I bet the majority will pay it forward and as I always say, it is easy to make the world a better place with one Act of Random Kindness at a time.

I have decided to add a new category to the blog. I am a book fanatic and forever wanting to share a good book with friends, so I have decided to start doing that here as well. Feel free to discuss the book in question or to make suggestions of your own.

There is nothing in the world like a good book and it seems that sharing them with people is a way to not only help the authors of the books, but to also give back to those of you that have taken the time to come here. So, watch for the reviews in the coming weeks as I highlight some of the books I have read.

As a child growing up, I had several biological aunts and uncles. Some, I haven’t seen or talked to in over 25 years, but there is Aunt Lucy on my father’s side and “Aunt” Catherine from my mom’s side that have always been there for me.

The first thing to notice is that I put “Aunt” in quotations in referring to Aunt Catherine. Aunt Catherine was actually a cousin of my mother’s who lost her parents at a young age and grew up like a sister to my mother. Aunt Catherine died a year ago February right before Valentine’s Day.

She had fought the long and hard battle of mesothelioma including having a lung removed that allowed her to live an additional 3 years. I knew I would miss her, but lately it has been an intense feeling of something being missing from my life. She was simply an amazing woman.

Aunt Catherine had little and gave lots. You never went to her home and didn’t get an ice cream cone and more importantly, lots of love and attention. She would have given her last dollar to see her kids get what they wanted. She fought some hard roads including a bitter divorce, mental illness, and then cancer, but she stayed so positive. She was always worried about others. Even in those last weeks, concerned about my mother and father or  her daughter being able to have children.

I sat with Aunt Catherine shortly before Christmas that last year and it was one of the best spent afternoons I can remember. We talked a lot and sometimes when she was catching her breath, we just sat. I was so glad I had taken the time because sometimes I would get too busy and drive by her house thinking there would always be tomorrow.

Her daughter recently told me that the day before she died, Aunt Catherine talked about me and she wished I would reconsider having children. She wished this only because she would not want me to ever be alone in a time of illness or need. Still thinking of others even then, it didn’t surprise me, but it did touch me.

I miss Aunt Catherine, her kindness and compassion that is found in so few these days. If there is an Aunt Catherine in your life, spend time with her or him because it will be over and there you will be “missing” them terribly at the strangest times.

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.

Well, it might be an early one, but it is upon us once again. I actually love Easter as it is a sign of a new season, new animal life, and generally better weather, but all that aside, there is more I like about Easter. At Easter, the focus of things changes somewhat for people. Their spirits are a little lighter and things suddenly don’t seem so dark and gloomy.

If you are of a particular faith, Easter can mean much more than even those things I mentioned above.  There are even some faiths that don’t celebrate Easter at all. Many people that I keep in touch with on some of my other sites have been kind enough to share with me about their faiths and views. I think it is important that we understand where other people are coming from and I think it makes a more tolerant world in general.

So, whatever Easter has in store for you, take a minute and think about a situation where you could be or even could have been more tolerant of someone that was different than you. Do your part to make this sometimes chaotic world a better place to be. Happy Easter to each of my friends and for those that don’t celebrate Easter, Happy Spring !!

Many people seem to think that in order to be considered an act of random kindness, it has to be something big or public, but I am here to say that isn’t the case. I thought of this post today while I was with my husband. On one of the busiest roads in the small city near here, there was a lady that had obviously been trying to get out of a gas station and back into traffic for quite some time.

I said to Tom, “Let that car in, Honey.” At which point, he reminded me that the traffic was horrendous. I simply said, “It is the nice thing to do, we aren’t in a hurry.” Of course, he let the car in because that is the type of person he tends to be. However, it got us talking about all the little chances we overlook to be nice in life. Life being life, he might not have even noticed that car if I hadn’t pointed it out.

So, don’t think globally or big, instead think of the little things you can do. If the wind blows the neighbors garbage can into the road and you have some time, pick it up and put it back on their curb. Maybe you notice someone struggling with their grocery cart in the wind or bad weather. Got a minute? Stop and help them if you are able. These little things will all add up to making the world a kinder and nice place. It will only happen with one act of random kindness at a time.

I often hear people remark that there is nothing in the news, but bad news. I decided today to take a couple days worth of newspapers and see what I could discover that might not be bad news. It may take a little more looking, but I found that there is good news to be found.

I would like to share with you two articles that caught my attention in the newspaper today. The first was about a lady from Plattsburgh, NY. You may not know where that is, but it is about as far north as you can get in New York State and it is also home to the best college in the world, SUNY Plattsburgh !  Anyway, back to the story. This lady, Linda Howard found a bank deposit bag in the road. Inside was $15,000 and can you guess what she did? She headed for the local police department to turn it in. It turned out that an employee of a local business had set it atop her car and forgot about it.  I can’t even imagine how surprised and pleased they were to get it back.  Linda Howard is sure making the world a better place by being an honest citizen.

Another story in the paper that really kind of caught me off guard was about a politician from the Albany, NY area. Bob Reilly announced that he is donating his after tax salary to groups that need it in the Albany and Saratoga area. Over the years, this assemblyman has donated over $218,000 to such groups. He has a simple reason for this kindness, he wants people to think better of their government.  That seems like a good reason to me, how about you?

So, it goes to show that news like anything else is all about perspective. There is good news to be found if you are looking and their is kindness all around us. Sometimes, we just need to take a fresh look. Here’s to hoping you are having a wonderful weekend.

I hope that all of you had a wonderful week. My week was busy as usual, but we did have a snow day which gave a much needed sleeping in time on Wednesday morning. It is the one good thing about our weather here in the Northern part of New York State.

The reality of life is that we all have to work. I am lucky as I love my job and that makes getting up in the morning a little easier. However, what I can’t understand is that when opportunities present themselves, why anyone would not want to make a place that they spend so much time a better place to be. After all, if I have to be there than it would be nice to enjoy it as much as I can.

Some people are naturally good at this and no matter what is going on in their lives, they always seem to want to spread kindness. Such is the case of one lady that teaches down the hall from me. For as long as I have worked at this building, her husband has been ill with Alzheimer’s. When she discovered that my family was struggling with the same thing, she offered any and all assistance, information, or even just an ear. Not a week has gone by that she hasn’t inquired about me or my parents whom she has never even met. She is simply by nature a good person with a very large heart.

This lady has lead by example both to her students and to other teachers. She doesn’t gossip and she goes about her day making the best of it. It makes those around her want to do the same. This week, I was concerned when I walked by her door because she looked a little down and out. After a brief discussion, it became apparent that her husband had declined rapidly recently and she was feeling sad. (Such is the case when living with a loved one that has Alzheimer’s)

On top of it, she had recently had a granddaughter born and was so thrilled, but certainly not as much as she could have been if her husband was well and able to share in it with the family. It wasn’t long after talking that things turned to my family as they so often do with her. She isn’t one to focus on herself. As we parted ways, it got me thinking that kindness in the workplace is something that is planted and will grow if we let it.

Today, I had flowers sent to this amazing coworker with a simple congratulations card attached to the new grandma. I know that it thrilled her. Certainly to spread kindness in the workplace, all acts don’t have to be something material, but they do have to be thoughtful and genuine. So, next week….see what you can do to make your job a better place to be. Be sure to come back and tell us how you are making the world better one act of random kindness at a time.

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.

Anybody that takes the time to blog is usually doing it because they want to get a message out. A blogger wants other people to read what they have to say and in the day of the Internet, it has become easier and easier for people to publish their thoughts.

The message of this blog of course is kindness and what a change it can make in the world. That being said, I want to take just a moment and thank those of you that are reading the blog. I see your comments and it makes me smile. If even one person is hearing me, it makes all the difference.

So, I thank you for taking a few minutes out of your busy lives to hear me. It means more than you can ever know. You are the type of people that are making the world a better place. Have a wonderful week !