Stories of Kindness from Around the World

As many of you know, my weekends are filled with work at the pet orphanage trying to find homes for those less fortunate pets who have found themselves on hard times. As such, my weekends are often focused on various acts of kindness, from giving extra love and reassurance to a freshly admitted orphan, to giving them their first bath, nail trim and other things that bring them comfort, all the way to teaching them behaviors that will help them adjust in their new environment once we find their forever families. This weekend was no exception, and today I found permanent placement for three of our wonderful orphans. Yesterday was another story entirely. I had an evening offsite, only the second I have ever done and the first with orphans in tow, for the Lake Cliff Park Centennial celebration in Oak Cliff. It was one of those offsites that was a challenge from the start, difficult to control due to the sheer volume of people coming through, and it tested my patience in more ways than one. I had finally made peace with the day as we were winding down, having found my happiness in the joy that the orphans had experienced in getting out for the evening and spending time in a lovely park with wonderful volunteers and compassionate people all around. One of my volunteers went to get the van for me as she could see how tired I was and, as she was making her way up the street, the van died and refused to start. I suddenly found myself becoming the recipient, instead of the intended gifter, of kindness from many different sources.

A pair of police officers helped to push the van up the street into a place where we could get the supplies loaded into it and see if there was a way of jump-starting it and getting home. Alas, our problem was electrical in nature, and the van would not be going anywhere soon. I quickly called the director of the orphanage to get our mechanic out to tow, then called my fiancee, Tim, while my volunteers got the van more evenly parked with the curb to ask if he could come bring his van to pick up the orphans, my daughter and her friend who were volunteering as well, and me. Four other volunteers stayed to make sure the orphans and our supplies were secured and then we were able to get loaded into Tim's van when he came. We teamed up to get the orphans (seven dogs and two cats) transferred into Tim's van to the a/c, and two of my volunteers stayed with me while we waited a bit longer for the tow truck. Once we got to the orphanage, my daughter and her friend helped me unload everyone, get them fed and put to bed for the night, and put my transport kennels in a safe place where they would not be in the way. Thanks to the kindness shown by my wonderful volunteers and my fiancee, what was already a 12 hour work day went from potential disaster to just another funny tale to relay along with the stories of near-escapes by excited orphans and amusing retellings of my own lack-of-coordination-induced escapades. Though my intention of gifting a kindness to some unsuspecting soul was foiled by the way the day played out and my need to be tied to our booth the full day, through the kindness of my team I am filled with an appreciation for the goodness in others and a desire to share that and watch it grow that can't be matched.