Random Acts of Kindness

Just a little something that made my (and my kids') day today :) We were in the grocery store, I was preoccupied with something, I don't remember what, when an elderly gentleman came up to me and said something that I couldn't understand while handing me 2 $5 bills. When I asked him to repeat himself, he told me to use the money to let each of the girls pick out "something special" when I thanked him profusely, he just smiled and said "I love doing it". AWWWWW . . . each of the girls chose a small bag of candy (goodness knows we don't NEED candy around here with all the "loot" from trick-or-treating at Sea World, but still . . . ) and a donut, and we'll put the rest of the money in their piggy banks for future treats. They "gushed" about how nice the man was the ENTIRE time we were in the store, and all the way home. And frankly,while more quietly, I "gushed" too :) Not because we needed the money (or they needed the junk food) but because it's a reminder that there are people in the world who like to give just for the sake of giving, and not for what they will get in return (other than the knowledge that they made someone happy).

I'm reminded of a day when I was pregnant with the girls, I don't remember how far along I was, but far enough to be big and uncomfortable (which happens early w/ twins LOL). I'd stopped at the grocery store after work and that particular grocery store didn't have any cart returns in the parking lot & the whole parking lot was a rather steep hill. As I unloaded the groceries into my car I was dreading having to walk the cart all the way back down the hill to the store, and then walk all the way back UP the hill to my car (not a huge distance but when your feet and back and belly ache w/ any movement, it seems like 100 miles LOL). As I finished up a man came from a nearby car and offered to take the cart back for me. I thanked him, assuming he was going into the store to start shopping anyway, so, while a nice thing to do, it wasn't any extra "work" on his part. It wasn't until I was pulling out that I realized that, after returning my cart, he'd come back to his car, where his wife (I assume) was waiting, and was getting in, ready to leave. He'd been LEAVING not coming, and had taken the cart out of the goodness of his heart (no doubt realizing that at my size, the extra walking would be tiring). It was a small thing, but it meant the world to me, to the point that 6 years later, I still remember it.

So this is my reminder to all of us (including myself), to practice random acts of kindness!!!