Stories of Kindness from Around the World

87 Year Old Woman Named Rose

The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn't already know. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned round to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being. She said, "Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I'm eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?" I laughed and enthusiastically responded, "Of course you may!" and she gave me a giant squeeze. "Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?" I asked. She jokingly replied, "I'm here to meet a rich husband, get married, and have a couple of kids..." "No seriously," I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age. "I always dreamed of having a college education and now I'm getting one!" she told ... Read Full Story >>

Helping a Soldier Helps Gain Perspective

I recently started a new job and it hasn't been a good match. 

I was on my way home from a stressful meeting with my boss and I was worrying about how my family will get by once I am fired.  In these economic times it scary to contemplate being unemployed. I was thinking that it can't be good to focus so much negative energy when I saw a soldier enter the gift shop in the airport. 

I took this to be God's way of telling me to stop focusing on myself and trust that he will provide for my family and help me find the right job.  I followed the soldier into the store and asked if I could pay for his items.  He agreed and thanked me, but of course I was busy thanking helping to keep us safe. 

When he left, the cashier told me that he was just getting off a plane returning from war.  I was so grateful for his sacrifice and for the opportunity to say thank you.  This opportunity allowed me to turn the focus away from myself and on the people who have real challenges like this brave young man who was risking his life.

A Detour in the Journey of the Kindness Checkbook

I am writing this post following my earlier post 'The Journey of a Kindness Checkbook'. In reading many of the stories here I have come to a realization that had not previously occurred to me.  Not everyone is comfortable doing random acts of kindness.  Post after post people talk about how worried they are to take that step. After learning this I went down to the little bird store where I had given the lady who works there the smile transaction register.  I asked her if it was something she was comfortable doing.  She asked me to take it back, she said "It was not working out".  I did and apologized for not realizing that it may make some people uncomfortable. I have now passed it on to a coworker who said she would love to do it!  I am waiting for the emails to come in to the designated email account I set up so ... Read Full Story >>

Three Hours and Three Beaming Smiles

It was a hot weekday afternoon and I was on my way to volunteer at a reading session with visually impaired girls. I got in to a rickshaw and immediately struck up a conversation with the rickshaw driver.  The rickshaw driver started telling me the story of his life.  He related that he had grown up very poor and he and his siblings didn’t have much. He said he worked very hard so that he could make sure that his children had the opportunity to attend a decent school.  He said that there were many nights when he would skip dinner to make sure that they would have enough money to send the daughter on a class trip or to pay for his son to attend the computer lab.  I was profoundly moved by the simple and matter of fact way in which this man was relating this heart-melting story. When we ... Read Full Story >>

Lollipop Smiles

I recently started a project called "Operation Smiley Face" with the simple goal of spreading smiles.

As part of this effort I decided to do a "Lollipop Drop" in and around my neighborhood :). I started out by purchasing a couple of bags of lollipops. My son and I then attached a Smile Card to each one.

We then went out and placed some of them in locations where they could easily be spotted, and others  where it would be more of a surprise (like in the pick up area of a vending machine). We  had so much fun doing it, and it has become a regular practice now.

I carry prepared lollipops with me so that 'mready to do a quick "smile drop" wherever I go.  :)

Gratitude for the Chance to Help at a Children's Hospice

Yesterday was my first day as a volunteer at a childrens' hospice. When I arrived, I was made to feel so welcome by being introduced to everyone, given a cup of tea and then shown round.

The job they needed doing was a pile of ironing, which I was more than happy to do.  The lady in charge of volunteers kept apologising but I was thrilled to be able to help and it felt so good to empty the basket.

I was given a badge and next week will have one with my name on it and I'm so proud of it. I came out feeling as though I had re-entered the outside world. I have been at home for 30 years, first as a foster mum to babies in care then as mum to my own kids and although I have health challenges, I really want to get back to work. Who knows, there might be a vacancy for a nursery nurse at the hospice one day.

I am so gratefull for the chance to help there and for everyone being so kind. There is so much love there.  

A Gesture of Generosity that Healed a Life

I was in church one Sunday when my husband’s ex-wife requested the pastor and the church to pray for her.  She said that she was a drug addict and she wanted to stop using drugs.  She was crying and said that she needed God’s help because she knew that she couldn't do it alone. She was a beautiful woman with four children and they were all crying with her. After church I went to her and introduced myself. She said that she had heard about my marriage to her ex-husband. We talked for a little while and she told me that she did not have a car and that they were going to catch the bus home. I offered to give them a ride and we continued to talk in the car. She began to open up about how bad things really were in her life. I had heard rumours from ... Read Full Story >>

A Clean Out Creates An Opportunity To Help Out

My oldest daughter, Leslie,  recently moved into a smaller apartment and had lots of furniture, nic nacs and tons of clothing...about 10 garbarge bags filled..that she had no room for in her apartment. Guess where it all ended up - in my garage.  As I looked at it all piled in there, I started thinking of people who could really use the stuff. I called Leslie and asked her if she minded if I went through the bags of clothing. At first she was hesitant saying there are things in there she's keeping for sentimental reasons. I said "I'll go through and have a pile of things I want to donate and then you come over and give me your 'okay'". To my surprise, when she came over yesterday afternoon, she gave her okay to everything I picked out and then she went through the rest of the things and really let go of some of the things she loved but ... Read Full Story >>

A True Blessing Received At Notre Dame

This spring, I was lucky enough to be able to go on an amazing trip around Europe. One of the things I got to see was the Notre Dame Cathedral which was an amazing experience for me.

As I was taking pictures outside and waiting for my turn to enter, I noticed a woman begging by the main door. She was kneeling with a coffee cup, covered in a multitude of old and worn shawls. She seemed to be in pain and didn't even have the strength to ask each of the thousands of people who walked by - she just held up her little cup.

I watched, utterly shocked, as tourist after tourist totally ignored her. She was so tiny and frail, I wondered if people even saw her among the rich beauty of the church they were about to enter. So as my turn approached, I slipped a 20 euro note into her cup.

As I entered the church, I barely heard a quiet "God bless you." Her blessing meant more than all the stained-glass beauty of that Cathedral. To this day, when I am down, I remember the woman who had so little and who gave a wonderful blessing to a girl who already had so much.

Whole-Hearted Generosity From Those With Very Little

This is a story about the kindness of the rickshaw pullers in North India.  Rickshaw pullers are some of the poorest people in India and they work extremely hard.  People sit on a carriage and the rickshaw pullers transport them by pulling the carriage manually (or sometimes with a bicycle).  I recently suffered a knee injury and needed to go to physiotherapy every day. I was unable to walk much, so I had to use a rickshaw puller to take me there, wait for me and then bring me back.  This was usually the only time I would leave the house each day and so I would use these trips to get all the stuff I needed like medicines, milk, fruit, etc.  As I couldn't really walk much, I had to ask the rickshaw pullers if they could take care of these errands for me.  Everyday, on the way back from physiotherapy, I would ask the rickshawpuller to stop by the market and request him to the get ... Read Full Story >>

A Street Party That Brings A Community Closer

I live on a road called Megby Close and that really is the operative word - 'close'. Everyone in the street looks out for one another, we pop into each others houses to share a cup of tea, or have a chat or even just to say hello and see if the day is going well. This closeness is rare in Britain today, which is a shame, and I should know, I have lived in several different houses and none of the streets have been like this one. I heard on BBC Radio 2 that there was to be a Great British Street Party and I jumped at the chance to have one on this street. There are 6 houses in the main part of the street and all of us pretty much live in each others shoes. But I decided to post invites to everyone in the nieghbourhood to see if we could spread that ... Read Full Story >>

Volunteering at Day Care During Lunch Hour

I volunteer at a daycare center in Baltimore during my lunch hour.  I work very close to the daycare and only found it because I took a "wrong turn."  Now I can see that there are NO wrong turns.  Everything happens for a reason.  I love children but have been working at a consulting office and working with computers.  I thought the daycare director might not have anything for me when I asked to volunteer, but she was very nice and agreed to let me come in during my lunch hour.   I have been so blessed and learning so much from these little munchkins.  PACT is a daycare for special-needs children, like those that require feeding tubes, oxygen, or those with autism or cerebal palsy, and those that are deaf or blind.  These kids have the most amazing hearts of love!  Just this week I was working in a room that ... Read Full Story >>

Tandem Acts of Kindness in Two Cities

A few weeks ago, I was in a crowded local train in Mumbai. I was sitting in a window seat of the super-crowded ladies' compartment. I was lucky to find a seat as I had got in at the first station. In a few minutes, the seats were all taken, and most people had to stand jam-packed in the aisles. Anyone who has been in Mumbai knows how frustrating a crowded train can be. In the middle of all this, I saw a young girl, about 10 years old, probably from a poor family. It was evident that she was used to the crowd, and the pushing and jostling, because she would silently shift position to be just that little bit more comfortable. I felt a little sad sitting there watching her having to stand. It struck me, that this is the time to practice a random act of kindness. However, I had to overcome some ... Read Full Story >>

A Moving Day Surprise

Pleasant surprises always make me happy.  It’s always nice to learn that someone was thinking of us and when they do something for us when we least expected, it gives us happiness.  When that happens to me, I try to do something for others. A couple of days ago, I was watching a movie with a few friends when a thought came to my mind. One of my friends was moving house the next day and I decided to help him by devoting some of my time to help with the shifting. Then I had another thought, what if he has a lot of stuff and it will be difficult for him to transport it. I shared this with a friend who was also watching a movie. We decided to get a car and load everything in the car and give him a surprise. We were excited and it all happened ... Read Full Story >>

Kindness Even When It's The Challenging Kind

I always try to be kind where I can and it usually comes reasonably easily to me to be kind to strangers or semi-strangers. I’ve discovered that it seems to be harder for me to be kind to the people who are closely related to me. I like spending time with my grandparents, who live only 5 minutes away from me, but I sometimes find it stressful and challenging. At their age (they are over 75 years old) they seem to have accumulated a lot of resentment and negativity although they were not like this before. My grandma seems to say negative things about others at any opportunity and my granddad gets immensely stressed and hyper and highly strung about the simplest of things. Last week I visited them a couple of times, and ended up feeling really stressed myself at the end of each visit although there were some good moments. ... Read Full Story >>

Quiet Acts Of Kindness In Her Hour of Sorrow

I work at a Care Center where most of the people are elderly. About a year and a half ago a 59 year-old lady came to us who had cancer. She had to have her right leg amputated and she didn't have a family to take care of her after the operation. This lady was a quiet lady who mostly stayed to herself. But in the afternoons, when she was feeling well, she would go visit the other residents in the home. She would visit a lady who was blind and read to her. She would go into the room of a young girl with severe cerebral palsy and sing to her. In her quiet gentle way, she would go about the Care Center doing good. She passed away last Wednesday and after her passing, stories are coming forward of her quiet acts of kindness in her own hour of sorrow. We never know what impact ... Read Full Story >>

A Valentine's Day Smile For a Wonderful Mother

One of my co-workers is a young single mother who is one of the sweetest and kindest people I have met.  She only has a part time position and is always struggling to make ends meet but she always makes sure her daughter is well cared for.  She does her best to make sure her daughter has a good Christmas and good birthdays despite always struggling to pay her bills.  In February, I bought a heart shaped bank and put 50 loonies in it. I gave it to her on Valentine’s day.  She was so grateful, she was overflowing with joy and she gave me a huge hug. 

I still to this day well up with tears a little bit when I think of the happiness and joy it brought her.

A Kindness "Chain Reaction" in a Traffic Jam

My 17 year old granddaughter is an accomplished flutist.  She recently gave a farewell recital to her friends and family at her high school in Chicago, which was followed by a homemade buffet supper.  After the recital, she had a 3 hour drive home with her mother and sister.  They decided to load up the car with the left-over food from the recital, which included barbequed sandwiches and cream puffs.  They packed the food on plates which they placed in zip-lock bags. On the drive back, they stopped to give the zip-lock bags to homeless people along the way.  At one junction, there was a traffic jam even though the lights were green.  My granddaughter decided to run through the cars to take a plate to a person on the side walk.  As she ran back, some of the other cars started to honk their horns. The lights had already turned red, so my daughter ... Read Full Story >>

Love Endures All

When one of my colleagues was diagnosed with cancer, he decided to take a leave of absence.  He decided to take leave not only because he was undergoing treatment, but also because his wife was going through treatment for a brain tumor.  Given that they were both in bad shape, he decided to take the leave so that they could enjoy each other's company while they still had the chance. Before he went on his leave, he purposely came to his office after hours to gather his personal belongings - just in case.   At the office, we all felt very bad but didn't know how to keep in touch with him and his family without bothering them.   So here is what I did: I bought cards with envelopes and distributed them to all the people in our group.  Then I sent an email to everyone encouraging my colleagues to write something, anything, for our friend.  I then ... Read Full Story >>

A Birthday Lunch With An Extra Smile

My son and I were out of town for the weekend.  Whilst we were out and about, we found a little cafe and decided to have lunch there.  After we had sat down at our table, I noticed an elderly couple having lunch at a table across the room.  I must have looked over at them a few times because my son asked me if I knew them.  I replied that I didn’t, but that they reminded me of my own grandparents.  When the waitress came over, I asked her if she knew them.  She said she did.  She said it was the elderly man’s birthday today.  I wanted to do something for them so I told the waitress that I wanted to pay for their lunch and gave her some money.  Sometime later, the elderly couple came over to thank us.  They were so excited that someone had bought ... Read Full Story >>