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Giving a Stranger Some Hope

My ex-husband gives me money to help me pay-off a joint credit card we had when we were married. Since he doesn't have good enough credit to have a bank account, he gives me $500 in cash every month. 

Once when I was returning from his place with the cash, a woman at the corner held up a sign that simply said HUNGRY.  Where I work, there are the same few panhandlers every day, but this was in a residential part of town and it was starting to snow.  I rolled my window down and passed her a bill.  She started to mumble thanks, but then smiels as she noticed it was a twenty.  I said she could get a nice hot breakfast a block away at the pancake house.

Twenty bucks isn't going to pay off my debt any sooner and maybe it will give a stranger strength and hope to go on.

A Blanket of Sisterhood

I have been doing what I can to look out for someone who lives close inside my heart though the daily lives we experience are quite far apart .  In my home, I wake up to a fresh morning, experiencing the luxury and warmth of the comfort of my own bed laden with a floral quilt that my grandmother once made for me. On the opposite coast of the country, within the confines of the lonely hospital walls, my sister rests often unpeacefully and in pain on a cold and firm plaster white sterilized bed. A cancer inside her is spreading despite a recent mastectomy and three months of intense chemotherapy. Radiation was not a possibility for her and now this condition has seeped into her skull and spine. The comforter which I grip so tightly begins to unravel in my hand and the texture of the fabric begins to soil, as I feel a piece of me lying there with her in the hospital room.  In order to keep myself from crumbling, I began to send blessing blankets, little toy angels, and a book of ... Read Full Story >>

The Original Warm Fuzzy Tale

Once upon a time, a long time ago there lived two very happy people called Tim and Maggi with their two children, John and Lucy. To understand how happy they were you have to understand how things were in those days. You see, in those happy days everyone was given, at birth, a small soft Fuzzy Bag. Anytime a person reached into this bag he was able to pull out a Warm Fuzzy. Warm Fuzzies were very much in demand because whenever somebody was given a Warm Fuzzy it made him feel warm and fuzzy all over. People who didn't get Warm Fuzzies regularly were in danger of developing a sickness in their backs which caused them to shrivel up and die. In those days it was very easy to get Warm Fuzzies. Anytime that somebody felt like it, he might walk up ... Read Full Story >>

Pay-It-Forward Ice Cream Coupons

A long while back, my son and I were having ice-cream at a Baskin Robbins near our home and we decided to "pay it forward" by anonymously treating a dad and his kids to ice-cream.  We left the store before they knew what was going to happen and my son and I smiled to ourselves as we walked home. Well, the other night, as I was reading Darwin's "Voyage of the Beagle", a coupon for a free of pint of Baskin Robbins ice cream fell out of the library book!  Talk about what goes around, comes around.  I didn't say a word to anyone at home, and went about my daily errands.  That day, my son had been particularly helpful (doing things without being asked), so I decided to surprise him with his favorite flavor of ice-cream.  Now, ice-cream is not normally found in our freezer so this is a ... Read Full Story >>

Expired Meters And A Pockeful Of Change

Just another simple one.  I noticed that I was walking with a slight list the other day due to a large amount of change in my right pocket. Now, I know that I could have shifted my ballast just a bit and evened things out, but there were cars parked there on expired meters :-)  Oh Darn!  It was a weekday too!  So I engaged in a paperwork reduction act of my own.  I figured that the metermaid wouldn't have to write so many tickets if I fed some meters.  Welp, I made a couple of blocks and was walking on a more even trim, and didn't have to shift ballast at all :-)

The Imperfect Act of Kindness

I am in the midst of prolonged frustrations at work. Today was more of the same. I walked to the car remembering my act of kindness and feeling a little pressed for time and creativity. As I drove to the grocery store to pick up milk, I ran some scenarios through my head not landing on one I was satisfied with. I walked in, there was a table of vibrant yellow mums. I chose one and put it in my cart still not knowing what I was going to do with it. I find myself trying to figure out the perfect scenario for these acts of kindness knowing that it defeats the purpose, but I can't help myself. I left the store and while I was backing out of my parking space, I saw an older woman walking to her minivan. She was by herself and did not have much in her cart. I ... Read Full Story >>

Suckered? I Don't Think So!

One morning a week I volunteer as cashier at a Habitat for Humanity Restore. 

Chocolate bars, flowers, and a morning I'll always remember

This morning, I arrived at my office a bit earlier to catch up on some emails. It was relatively empty, with people trickling in here and there. On the way to work today, I had also stopped by the grocery store to pick up some fruits to share with my colleagues during our morning meeting. I couldn't help it when I passed a fresh stack of yellow flowers on my way to the cash register... I had to pick some up, along with a few chocolate bars, to gift in some way. With the office so empty, I decided to take the opportunity to pick a few random desks to plop the chocolate bars on. :) My heart raced a bit as I scurried through the office, headed towards cubicles and areas where no one had come in yet. :) I placed one on the CEO's desk, and snuggled a smile card ... Read Full Story >>

A Small Act of Kindness Makes it all Worthwhile

Today I went to my daughter's school and spoke about kindness to 60 kids plus teachers and teacher assistants. After a small talk about the meaning of kindness, I gave a challenge to the children - I told them to  write a small story about an act of kindness that they had done and how that made them feel. Or if they had received of an act of kindness how did that make them feel? In what way had that act changed them? Then I and the Deputy Head and the Head Teacher will choose the best ones, the one that will stand out for their feelings of compassion and love toward others. When I was waiting for my daughter I saw some teachers that were at the assembly passing by and I was hoping that they would tell me if they liked the talk or not, but they didn't say anything. Then this little boy came to me and said: "You know, I enjoyed the ... Read Full Story >>

The Healing Toddler

A month ago,  I stepped through the revolving door  into my physician's office, feeling both afraid of being there because of what I could find out about my health, but also knowing that I would feel afraid if I didn't come there precisely to find out. So, I felt stuck. As I scurried over to a wooden chair with a plush cushion and a Home & Garden magazine lying on top of it, I noticed there were many other patients who were carefully seated on the chairs surrounding me with frightened faces buried in magazines. Amidst, these nervous readers, I spotted a little two-year old girl who was propped up on one of these seats with her short little legs sticking horizontally out into the air.  Just a moment after I sat down, I heard this little doll-like child's voice as she suddenly and fearlessly, began to sing. She was making up her own song. It was something about Santa Claus. Everyone was listening but I don't think she even was aware of how all of ... Read Full Story >>

Customer Ahead Of Me In Line

Customer ahead of me in line was short a few dollars on her order. As she was directing what items to put back, I offered to pay the difference. The customer graciously accepted :).

After the customer left, cashier thanked me as well :)).

Grateful that the Universe put me right where I needed to be of assistance. Abundant blessings, my kind friends.

The Invisible Woman

When I had breast cancer I had to have a lumpectomy, chemo and radiation (the works). The hardest part of that entire experience was losing my hair. I have strawberry blonde wavy hair down to the middle of my back which I have always considered one of my most attractive features. What was hard about losing my hair, though, was that I lost my anonymity with it. After I lost my hair it was like having a tattoo across my forehead that said "chemo patient." I am a very active, athletic person so to have people looking at me with pity as if I was an invalid or a leper was very hard to take. Of course they never said anything, but if I got in an elevator everyone looked away because they didn't know what to say. I didn't blame them, God knows I've done the same thing myself, but ... Read Full Story >>

Secret Snow Wiper Will Strike Again!

After 2 false alerts the winter storm advisory today, tonight and tomorrow  is real  -- snow has been falling and accummulating.  And I'm armed!  I made sure to put an extra pairs of  gloves, 2 ice scraper (small and large), and a small hand held brush for sweeping the snow in the front seat of my car. What I'm also going to do is scout our work parking lot for a secret snow wiping and windshield cleaning, after I leave work. I started this tradition a few years ago when my hubby and I discontinued car pooling. (I did not realize that he spoiled me- I'd sit in the nice, warm truck watching/waiting while he did the cleaning then drove us safely home.) Now I do my own (ugh!).  I know how much work it involves, and  how cold you can get.  So I'm excited to be able to surprise someone with a ... Read Full Story >>

"You Look Nice Today!"

About seven years ago, whenever I would notice that someone looked nice, I started telling them that they looked nice. Shorty afterwards, I came up with an observation: If you tell five people during the day that they look nice, at the end of the day, six peole (you have to count yourself!) feel great. Over the years, I've had many fruitful experiences with this. Here are a few: One day, I was riding around town with a friend when we rolled to a stop at a traffic light. As we waited for the light to turn green, a man walked across the crosswalk. He looked very together, so I called out, "Hey, you look sharp today!" Pointing towards a building, he said, "Thanks, but I was more sharp in there." His comment puzzled me. But before I could ask about it, the light turned green, and we drove on.  I ask my friend who was driving, ... Read Full Story >>

Gratitude For Our Children's Kindness

I recently posted a story about a local man in a difficult situation, and how his plight had inspired my children to help.  I posted a follow on story about how my children started a fundraiser (making angels) to help out a local man and his family. The man is out in  all kinds of weather, holding a sign that reads, "Will work for food for family."  We don't see stuff like that in our area much and he touched my children's hearts and they raised $100.00 for this family.  This story is the final instalment. Yesterday my husband and I took the kids to give the man the money they had raised for him.  My husband called him over to the car, and I got out to explain who we were and tell him about the fundraiser.  He was very soft spoken, rather young, and extremely respectful.  We talked about how hard times are right now, ... Read Full Story >>

Scouts Honor on a Full Flight

My 9-year-old daughter and I were flying from our home in Charlotte, North Carolina, to spend a week with my husband in Miami, Florida. Mike had been in Florida for five months working for an internet start-up company. We were excited about the trip because we had seen him only five times in five months, and Kallie missed her Dad terribly. As usual on the Charlotte-to-Miami flight, the plane was totally full. I had noticed a troop of Boy Scouts at the gate and commented to my daughter that if anything happened, we would be OK with all those Scouts on our flight! Little did I know.... Because we did not get our boarding passes until we arrived at the gate, Kallie and I could not get seats together and were separated by the aisle. That wasn't such a big deal, except that Kallie was nervous about the trip and had counted ... Read Full Story >>

To The Airport, With An Unexpected Chauffeur

My family was going on a trip and usually our neighbor would give us a ride to the airport. This time our neighbor told me she would be working but her partner - who is a recovering alcoholic and the center of a lot of past drama in her life - would be happy to help us.  I mentioned this to my family and they were a bit hesitant. I didn't have to hear the words to know they were wondering - should we ask someone else? We don't really want him driving us, do we? Is he really ok now? But I realized that this was an opportunity to show my friend that we trusted her partner, and an opportunity to make him feel like he was doing something good! So I explained to my family that allowing him to drive us to the airport would be like giving a gift ... Read Full Story >>

Feeding the homeless with my daughters

I am so appreciating my daughters today and all that we learned while we were growing TOGETHER. I am especially grateful for the activities that revolved around kindness and brought joy to us at the same time. At one time we decided to bake bread for the homeless community on the beach near our home. We took 2 days during each week to bake mini loaves of bread and also took cheese of each person. As this project went on (eventually for more than two years) one of my daughters started having short conversations with each person she gave bread to. Eventually we brought some playing cards and checkers and played with some of the people, too. Soon several of our friends got involved and we began to make full lunches once a week for this community. Years later when I would see one of the previous free lunch recipients, they would come ... Read Full Story >>

Taco Cabana

I was at Taco Cabana looking at the menu while drinking an iced tea to cool off from a long day of running errands.  I was trying to decide what to feed my family that evening.   An elderly woman was struggling with the door so I opened the door.  She was frail and a little confused with the menu.  After a long time ordering and many questions she pulled out her coin purse to pay.  She had to take an item off to pay as she was short the funds.  I told the cashier (without her hearing) to tell her that her order was on the house and I would pay.  The look on her face was priceless as he told her someone anonymously treated her to lunch.  While they filled her order, I had them add a second meal, 2 desserts, a smile card, and a gift card to her bag ... Read Full Story >>

A Sprinkle of Love, by Mail

I have come up with an idea that i thought i would share. I am going to start to sending letters, post cards and small things through the mail to my grandmother. One each day. She has not been feeling well lately and I thought this would cheer her up a bit. I am thinking of doing it with other people as well so each week I will pick a new person to shower with encouraging word, thoughts, and love!

Just wanted to share it! You are all an inspiration to me thanks!!