Kindness

 

The other morning I woke up feeling awful. I was sick with a mild cold, and had just gotten over three days of pain from being a girl. Sorry, guys. If you are reading this…I had terrible cramps. It’s a fact of life. I got up and started making my morning eggs, and Ezekiel Bread. Thank you, Lauren! This new diet I am on is genius, and it’s all thanks to you! As I went to pick up the small bowl with my uncooked eggs and pour them into my hot pan, I spilled the bowl. These were my last two eggs. I promptly exclaimed, “Did that really just happen to me?” My husband said, “What happened?!” I told him and before I knew it, he had jeans on and was heading to the store to get me some eggs. Of course I protested in total defeat, but he was already out the door. Three stores later he came back with the big carton of eggs, and some mushrooms to go with them. Then he chopped some of the mushrooms, onions, and some Canadian bacon and started to sauté them for me. That’s Love. He always goes the extra mile for me. I was overwhelmed by his generosity, love, and kindness.

I was thinking about this kindness as I was running on the treadmill later. I’ve been shown a lot of kindness in life. I was pondering how it can change the entire course of a day for someone. Many of you reading this know me. You know that my Dad died when I was 8, and that we lived in Brinkley AR for around 4 months. That was a tough year. My Dad died in September, not long after my eighth birthday. I loved my Dad very much. I was very close to him, and I have many wonderful memories of spending time with him. Losing him was awful. After he died my Mom, Sister, and I moved about three times. Mom was just trying to land somewhere so that she could raise us. When I was younger my Mom’s mother, whom we called Nanny, babysat me a lot. I spent many days with her, watching the Twilight Zone, and eating fudge sickles. When we moved to Brinkley it was just before my ninth birthday and we had lived with Nan for a few months before. At that same time Nan got very sick. My Mom had to go back to California, because they didn’t think she was going to make it. My Mom was there when I had my ninth birthday. It was hard. I was so sad. I had just lost my Dad, my Nanny was probably going to die, and my Mom was thousands of miles away. At the same time, I experienced great kindness.  My Sister and I were staying with my Uncle Drury and Aunt Garnette. It was hard on everyone, because I remember being sad a lot.  For my birthday my Aunt made me a cake, and some really cute clothes for my beloved Cabbage Patch Kids. I still have these clothes too. She took me to McDonalds to play, and she got me a rope perfect for jumping. My Mom called me on my birthday and I’m sure I cried, but I was overwhelmed by the kindness shown to me that day. My Aunt’s nephew, who was in High School at the time, had balloons sent to school for me. I remember getting those balloons, and how special it made me feel. What high school kid thinks to do something like that? A little while later my Nanny got well enough to travel all the way back to AR. She saw all her kids one last time. My family was moving back to California a few days after Nan got there. The morning we left, she had died in her sleep.

Even though that was probably one of the toughest years of my life, I have not forgotten that kindness. I don’t think we realize how important simple kindness, and thoughtfulness can impact someone’s life. I know that I could be more kind to people, and more willing to go that extra mile. My point in this post is to challenge you. Take every opportunity you have to be kind to others. It doesn’t matter how small, or simple it may be. That kind act can change their day, and even their year.
XO,
T