Acts of kindness...

Sunday Morning CBS had a great piece last weekend on a young man who saw a person (another man) on the internet who had been paralyzed and without knowing this man at all, the young guy started a fund raising effort to purchase a device that would get the paralyzed man to walk again--a cost of $80,000.  The two had never met but the young man doing the fund raising told the reporter that he had no idea why but he felt a calling.  Today the paralyzed man is walking with the aid of his device, courtesy of a stranger's "calling" and unconditional love.

The Today Show has had a number of clips on acts of kindness recently and people who have done good things for others, many of whom are strangers to them.

My pal Kathryn (we are not close friends -- more like acquaintances -- but I would do anything for her if she asked because she has such a wonderful soul) recently posted on Facebook that she challenged her peeps to commit to being kind until 12/26.  Nothing more than just being kind.  If I remember right 64 of us committed to that and I was heartfelt in that.

Doesn't seem that hard does it?  JUST. BE. KIND.

And then I ended up on the phone with AT&T for more than 4 hours yesterday about them giving away my username and account security.  The umpteenth call in the last 3 months that totaled nearly 18 hours of calls with them.  OOPS, dropped the ball on that commitment...  Can I have a do-over?

My hometown paper published a letter from a 78 year-old widow on Social Security who had had her purse stolen in the grocery store by a 20-something young woman who engaged her in a distracting conversation and then stole her purse with all the money she had in it.  The widow's letter told the young woman she hoped she needed that money because it was all she had and she would have gladly given it to her if she needed it...she didn't need to steal it.

The letter ended up creating a group of people who started an online fund raiser that netted (if I remember correctly) $900 for the widow.

JUST. BE. KIND.

Then I read a post about a young man in Oregon who was in line on Black Friday at Cabela's to get a pair of free boots.  The man in front of him had to leave the line because he was ill from his radiation treatments and needed to go home because he was too sick to remain there.  That put the young man in the position ahead of him and got the boots. The young man took to Facebook and then his local TV station trying to locate the gentleman who was ill so he could give him the voucher for the boots.  The TV station AND Cabela's came through, located the gentleman and gave them BOTH boots, socks and each a gift card.

As it would happen, since I am on Facebook a lot (I work from home, it's social interaction ... and enough people have given me shit and deleted me for it so don't go there...) I saw the post from the  young guy who was trying to find the older gentleman and sent the post out into space to see if he could be located.  I shared it in hopes of helping, but I also sent the young man a message and asked if he had found him yet since the post was about a week old.

The young man sent me a note within about 5 minutes telling me that he had and the TV station helped and filmed the reunion at Cabela's and how excited he was to help this man.  This amazing young man sent me a friend request and chatted with me for about 20 minutes telling me about his excitement in helping someone and how he puts his life out there to do just those types of things.  He asked if we could stay in touch ... you never know who you can help.

How true...

I crossed the street from a cone at DQ one night on a 4th of July many years ago and by the time I returned to the car we ended up with a beautiful girl and a sweet, blind dog.  The sweet pup was our Chico that I have written here about and my sweet girl, my Becky, is now the proud parent of 3 amazing kids and has a Master's degree in Marriage and Family counseling and was on the dean's list more semesters than I can remember.  She was sitting on a curb in a parking lot waiting out the meth rage of her then-boyfriend.  I never gave it a second thought as I ran across the street, but she and I have wondered aloud what would have become of her and Chico had I not.

This morning as I started in the door to the local YMCA for a spin class at the crack of dawn, an elderly gentleman was struggling to get his membership card out of his bag.  Didn't take but a small movement and the two of us fished it out of the bottom and got him in.

JUST. BE. KIND.

Why do we need Christmas and this time of year to put it into play?  Kathryn is kind and wonderful every day but why did we need her challenge to at least get to 12/26 to be kind?  Why do we not see it every day?  Why can't we DO IT every day?  Even just once a day.  Something small...may seem insignificant to us but mean the world to others.

We are coming up to a New Year...the king of do-overs.  Instead of diets, commit to one act of kindness a day.  Some days it will be huge, some days seem minuscule.  But consciously do it at least once a day.

Imagine the possibilities!

Imagine if we could get Donald to do it...  OK I was going big there and trying to attempt the impossible.

Once a day.  JUST. BE. KIND.

And here for your heartwarming pleasure is Brian meeting the man who he wanted to have the boots. You are a role model my new friend and I'm honored to have you in my posse :)

Happy New Year.  JUST. BE. KIND.  Once a day...


http://www.kezi.com/news/Springfield_Man_Reunited_with_Rightful_Gift_Winner.html

Grateful for holiday magic

The holidays are really what you make them.  And the last few years I, without realizing it, have made them a BAH HUMBUG kind of time.  Too much to do, too much year-end stuff to deal with, cold and nasty weather where we live, money spent on people who don't need to have another thing, cookies left over that we don't need and created a mess to make and resulted in my mother's dishes broken one year that I held dear.  Decorating that is a pain in the ass and we just put away again in a month, BAH HUMBUG.

But today as I am getting ready to dig out decorations and decide what is going to be hung where, I am moved to write about the holidays in a different way, hopefully setting a tone for a different outlook this year.

You see, the last 10 years have been a quiet pierce to my heart.  In 2005 my Daddy celebrated his birthday at the beginning of December and then moved to Heaven not 2 weeks later.  We stayed at my Mom and Dad's, my childhood home, until the 22nd of December after he was buried, and though we were prepared to stay through Christmas to be with Mom, she wanted to be alone and wanted us to head home so as to avoid bad weather.  My brother was also prepared to stay with her instead of going to his in-laws 90 miles away but Mom insisted she was fine.

Christmas has really never been the same.  And it is not like we don't "celebrate" here, but it is still not the same.  It just isn't...and that's OK.  Life changes things and it's OK.  When Dad's birthday and "anniversary" come we celebrate his life.  But Christmas-time is not the same.

This morning I watched a video that moved me to tears.  And it made me recall how much I LOVED Christmas and all of the spirit that goes along with it.  Not the presents and the material part, the SPIRIT that seems to flow in various ways.  This video contained two of my all-time favorite songs, Greensleeves and Carol of the Bells.  And listening I went back to a place that made me smile, laugh, and recall a couple of Christmas seasons where I could not get enough of the spirit and I was in the thick of it!

I graduated from college in December and promptly came home to my first "job" out of college.  A job fitting for the season.  Not necessarily a "big girl job" but a job and a fun one nonetheless.

I was THE Talking Christmas Tree at a large local department store (think like Macy's) at the bottom of the escalator where EVERYONE had to pass by.  I qualified for this job because of my small build and the fact that it allowed me to fit in the VERY small compartment under said tree and sit for hours at a time.  For minimum wage.  And the employee discount.

The Talking Christmas Tree was a contraption that was built with wide eyes and a mouth that moved up and down via a wire that ran down to the area where I sat allowing me to pull on it and make it look like it was talking.  The tree itself was on a swivel and I could turn it around to make it appear that the tree was indeed watching you (or someone else) as you moved past it.  AND even better, the boxed in area where I sat was 3 sides of one way mirror so that I could see everyone who walked by--and they could not see me.  The purpose of this was (supposedly) allow me to see kids coming and  talk to them as they walked by.  I also had a microphone attached to my collar so the tree would be heard by the kids with no problem.

It was heartwarming to see kids walk by and I would ask them to come tell me what they wanted Santa to bring.  Their eyes grew wide, they smiled and giggled.  Often parents would get the whole set up and mouth their child's name so I could respond and say "James, I KNOW you've been really good this year and that Santa will come see you but I need to give him some ideas."  Or, "Becky, are you ready to put cookies out for Santa and Rudolph and the reindeer when they stop at your house?"  I sat there for 8 hours a day and had a ball and the time flew.  It was a labor of love.

It also came with its share of fun.  An old high school "pal" (I kind of had a crush on him my sophomore year but that was short-lived) walked by one day and the tree said "Hey _____________  (I'll preserve his anonymity) I know for a fact you have NOT been a good boy and Santa is NOT stopping by your house!"  He stopped dead in his tracks and about wet himself.

SWEET.

And he came by day after day asking The Talking Christmas Tree under his breath "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU IN THERE?"

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!

I don't think he ever figured it out.

And there was the guy who brought his 5 year old daughter but each and every time asked me to meet him for drinks after I got off.

DUDE you have no clue what I look like or how old I am...what if I'm 16?

What I loved even more is that he turned out to be the soon-to-be-ex-brother-in-law of the dear friend who would one day be my maid-of-honor :)

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!

But the best was on the weekends...

A local high school choral group would stroll through the mall (this store was an anchor store) and dressed in period garb sing carols all day Saturday and Sunday.  It was pure magic listening to them.  I found myself between goosebumps and tears when they sang.  The first season I was The Tree, I was obligated to work Black Friday like everyone else.  This was the first time I heard them and listened with wide eyes at the beauty of their collective voice singing traditional and modern holiday songs.  I found out that the group would take requests if The Tree would talk to them.  I asked them to sing Carol of the Bells if they knew it.

WOW did they know it.  I was in awe.

My heart filled to overflowing.  This group of high school boys and girls could take your soul to new heights with their music.  I asked for Greensleeves.

My heart melted and I was happy I only had to listen because I simply could not talk.  My heart AND my eyes were full.

Before they left, one of the boys asked if I liked the tune "Silver Bells."  OH. MY.  My world was now complete.  And they closed my private concert with that song.  I thanked them profusely for making my day.

They must have made a mental note of it because each holiday weekend, they would assemble in front of The Tree and ask if it was me (I did whisper my first name to them the first time they sang) and bless me with my 3 favorite songs.  Though I loved this silly, pay-nothing job sitting on a piece of carpeting on a cold tile floor for hours and hours, hearing them each weekend sent my soul straight to Heaven and sealed the deal that this was the best holiday job anyone ever had.  The fact that they had my personal "playlist" ready was even more heartwarming.  THIS is what the holiday spirit is all about.

So imagine my heart this morning when I saw this video and heard the songs.  I think that this was meant to be put in my path this morning.  A morning where I struggle to function from no sleep last night.  A morning after my Dad's birthday and our pup Chico's yesterday too (he moved to Heaven last summer), missing them so much. A little over a week to the 10th anniversary of my Dad's move to Heaven.  A day where all I can think of is my to-do list and how shitty this year has been; I just want it over.

A day when I needed to watch this video and be transported back to my first job out of college.  To days when songs, simple songs, took my heart to soulful and happy places and made me smile and laugh and remember that this is a season of joy and laughter and love.

If you choose to let it be...

And I needed to be reminded to make that choice this year.  To let it be about spirit and love.

Enjoy this video and I challenge you not to tear up as you do.  Let your heart be light...