Stories by lindariebel (16 matches)

She found a transplant donor in Germany

A friend of mine was diagnosed with leukemia in her 60s. Her last hope was a marrow transplant. Luckily, they found one in Germany! This lady had signed up in the donor registry years before, but wasn't a match for the child and later the teenager in her region that needed a transplant. Years went by and out of the blue she got the news that she was a match for a woman in California (my friend). The transplant was performed, and my friend fully recovered. This year she went to Germany to thank the donor and found out that this lady had received the match request two days before her wedding! She said yes, and a few weeks later became a lifesaver while still a newlywed. Here they are together.

Fierce Competition To Be The Kindest Inmate Inside A Women’s Prison

Fierce Competition to Be the Kindest Inmate Inside a Women’s Prison: Though constrained by the walls of the prison, these women still have a choice as to how they want to show up in the world. Story Credit: Good News Network Typically, kindness doesn’t top the list of survival skills needed in a women’s prison. But last week, inmates around the world who call themselves “compassionistas” teamed up to see who could perform the most acts of compassion, and competed other prisons and citizens in The 2017 Compassion Games. In previous years, as part of Compassion Games International, the prison inmates at the California Institution for Women (CIW) tallied 4,500 acts of kindness that included sharing food, cleaning each others’ living spaces, and helping apply sunscreen before going outside. Even when temperatures climbed to 108 degrees in the Corona facility in 2013, the women avoided irritable exchanges and encouraged one another to stay hydrated.“The Compassion Games allowed ... Read Full Story >>

A Neighborhood Watch Website Brought Five Strangers Together To Rescue These Two Wild Baby Animals

Rescued 2 baby squirrels today! An appeal for help when out on "Nextdoor," a neighborhood watch internet site, to rescue them from a deep cement canal, so 5 of us (strangers) congregated at a footbridge over the canal and searched for a way to get down the 12-foot drop. We managed to find a way. Among us, we had brought rubber boots, long-handled rake, flashlight, binoculars, head lamp, and two cat carriers. Michael heroically dropped down and headed upstream with the gear. Chris and I waited at the footbridge and bit our nails. Finally Michael reappeared. Chris had brought a long leash, which we let down to the canal floor. Michael tied it onto the cat carrier and we hoisted it up. I happen to be a trained squirrel rescuer, so I drove the squirrels to the local expert, whose address I knew, who WAS at home. One squirrel was feisty but the ... Read Full Story >>

Kindness to our little outdoor neighbors too

I feed my backyard squirrels. Last year, every time I took a walk in our woodsy neighborhood, I collected acorns and filled my freezer with them so that could feed the squirrels all winter. Alas, this year the oak trees have produced hardly any acorns at all! So my wildlife catering budget will go up this winter. I wonder if  the drought prevented the oak trees from making an acorn crop this year? If so, consider helping out our furry little friends.           

Also, YOU can help birds and squirrels by making sure you trim trees ONLY in the months when the trees do not have nests with babies in them. In the San Francisco Bay Area, that's November and December. Check out the picture of the mom squirrel and her tiny baby. The babies are killed or injured when falling from their nests when trees are being cut. Thank you for being mindful of this!

Moving Day

Hope you don't mind a past AOK, When my husband and I moved, it was a very hot day and the job was difficult, due to a steep driveway and TONS of boxes of books! Halfway through the day, we ordered pizzas and sodas and gave them to the movers. They were so surprised! No one had ever done that before, apparently. They said some homeowners don't even let them use the bathroom.

Mending Fences

Some years ago a distant neighbor and I had some unpleasant exchanges on the online group Nextdoor, and I ended up blocking him. This year a very contentious issue has arisen in our town, with LOTS of online discussion, most of it civil and informative but occasionally snarky. Anyway, this gentleman has been making some useful and courteous contributions to the hot and heavy discussions. So this evening I wrote to him privately, reminded him of our previous difficulty, and congratulated him on his valuable contributions to the issue. He just now wrote back with a grateful and gracious message. A good demonstration of fence-mending! ... Read Full Story >>

Solidarity With Our Muslim Neighbors

Last week a public prayer demonstration was held to support our Muslim neighbors, at their community center.

HUNDREDS of people showed up in the rain! I baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies to share.

Help On The Phone From A Stranger

    After a flight from Denver to San Francisco and then train to my town, I couldn't find a cab ride to get the last few miles, though there had always been cabs waiting outside the train station before. Thanks to the internet, I was able to identify local cab companies, but the first ten that I called said they don't serve our area on Saturday nights. It was dark and chilly.     The eleventh company representative said her people couldn't do it either, but she gave me two numbers that weren't online and hurray...one of them said he would come, but only if I would promise to wait and actually be there -- apparently people sometimes call a cab and skip out if they hitch a ride with someone before the cab arrives.     Then the woman who referred him called me back to make sure I was taken care of. ... Read Full Story >>

Students Spend 200 Hours Making Halloween Costume For Girl With Rare Mutation #tbt

Students Spend 200 Hours Making Halloween Costume For Girl With Rare Mutation #TBT: These college students were determined to make Halloween a holiday to remember for 16-year-old Alex Hayes.

Little Life, But Big Symbol

Yesterday, at the Women's March in the rain, I noticed while listening to speakers that another earthworm had unbelievably survived the thousands of feet that had turned the field into churning mud. I stood over it for an hour, listening to inspirational speeches and protecting it from crowd surges and the ambulance men who came to rescue an elderly lady who had slipped in the mud and fallen badly. When it was time to begin the actual march, I picked up my tiny protegee and took it to a nearby planted area and put it down near a tree trunk. Bye, little friend!

Food For The Homeless

We regularly update our earthquake preparedness supplies, replacing food that has reached its "best by" date. Yesterday I carried some boxes of protein bars (having tried one to ensure it was ok) with me on a trip to the city, and gave them to homeless people. ... Read Full Story >>

Consoling Needed

On the light rail car, I noticed a man who seemed very sad. His companion spoke comfortingly to him (it seemed from my vantage point). I peeked every few minutes, and saw him wiping his eyes on his sleeve. No handkerchief available! I searched through my backpack until I found the wrapped package of tissues I knew was there. I went over and handed it to them. They were pleasantly surprised. ... Read Full Story >>

Kittens and their rescuer

Two tiny kittens were rescued by a young lady and brought to a rescue group, which gave them to me to raise until they were re ady to be adopted.  The young woman wanted to visit them, so I gave her directions to my house. She showed up panting and perspiring. The Lyft driver had dropped her off a mile from my house -- alone, in the dark, in part of town she didn't know! Shocking, eh?  I let her visit with the kittens for a few hours. The Lyft driver she called to go home got lost and then canceled the ride. "That's it!" I exclaimed, "I'm driving you home." And I did.   ... Read Full Story >>

Food and Books to the Rescue

A dear friend took a terrible fall and lost her two front teeth and was hurt all over. Worst of all, she was on her way to meet me and my husband and we didn't find out about this until later.

Kind strangers stayed with her and called EMTs. The next day I drove to her house (about 40 minutes, had only been there once since we always meet at the opera) bringing soup, yogurt, ice cream -- you know, soft food!

Also some humorous books and stuffed animals. She was so amazed I had come so far, but we had a lovely hour-long visit. Next day she sent us a picture of her smiling with temporary tooth caps.

Pushing lost carts back home

Yesterday I was walking to my local Safeway and found one of their carts on the sidewalk about three blocks away. I pushed it back to the store -- not easy, since one wheel was blocked (unsuccessful attempt by the store to prevent theft). Saw a policeman filling his gas tank and told him, in case he was wondering, and also told a store clerk, who was grateful. Even the big chain stores appreciate and need honest folks!

Thanking My First Therapist

The story about thanking a teacher reminded me of something I did recently. My first therapist (not the one in college, total waste of time in the 1960's before they knew anything) made such a difference in my life that I often wanted to thank him.

Every couple of years I would do a Google search without success. This year I found him -- after 40 years! I emailed and also sent an article that I published in which I praised his work (not by name). We also spoke over the phone. Completing a circle!

Recycling And Reusing

Kindness Received Twice Over

A Beautiful Morning With A Generous Gardener!!

Kindness Received Twice Over

Birthday Care Day

🎄 Dad’s Christmas Tree

A Lunch In Time

My Connection and Love to Portland, Oregon

Stocking Stuffers For Seniors

In For A Penny And A Pound

A Rose-breasted Nuthatch Made My Day

My Students Transition to In-Person School

The Crying Child at the Supermarket

A Smile for Our Dentist

Medical Assistance for Student Living Alone

Covid Vaccine Kindness

Being Careful with My Inheritance

A New Old Friend

Helping Girls Continue Their Education

Bus Driver's First Day