Stories of Kindness from Around the World

In my professional life I am fortunate to have acquired some skills that I find I am able to use even though I've retired.

 For instance, last week while at church, I met a family that had just moved to our state. Unfortunately, they were mugged shortly after their arrival and had the huge purse the wife was carrying with all their important papers (SS cards, IDs, birth certificates, etc.) stolen.

A very kind person in the neighborhood had taken them in, but they had very little money, no transportation, and no way to enroll their son in school without the paperwork that had been stolen. Enrolling that little boy in school seemed to be their highest priority for establishing normalcy for the family.

The school district was playing hardball with them with no sympathy for their plight. They had gone to the library to research how to replace this paperwork, but they found they could not afford the fees to replace the items quickly.

Because of my background as an education administrator and my computer literacy skills, I was able to research with and for them online how to replace the needed documents at minimal cost with only a slight delay in receiving the items.

I was able to speak with them calmly and positively about the process and explain that waiting the few extra days would make very little difference in getting their little guy enrolled and attending school again.

They told me they appreciated me taking the time to sit down with them and help them to see the "forest for the trees". They had felt beset with troubles and frustration with what initially had seemed the impossibility of their situation.

Taking the time to use my skills and "be present" with them had truly helped them regain some of the hope they had come to our city with when they moved---looking for a better life.