Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Requesting A Comment For Sara

The kindness story I am about to tell is a collaborative project, and it will hopefully involve you!   I live on Cape Ann in Eastern Massachusetts, and this Thursday, one of our youngest community leaders will be celebrating her 29th birthday.   Her name is Sara, and she’s is a very wonderful and hard-working young woman who has already made a big difference to the lives of many people in Gloucester, as the 2007 manager of our summer Farmers’ Market which she helped start in 2006, as the director of our very dynamic local arts organization, and as a wonderful human being with many friends, a great dog, and a fabulous smile! I need your creative help to cook up a special gift for Sara’s birthday.   Let me explain! A friend of Sara recent sent me an invitation to the birthday party which said… “You are invited to the ‘beginning-of-an-end-of-an-era-with-Sara’ party!  That's right.  Sara ... Read Full Story >>

Two Signs, Different Results

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said: "I am blind, please help." There were only a few coins in the hat. A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words. Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, "Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?" The man said, "I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in ... Read Full Story >>

Reaching Out To My Addressbook

There are a number of people that I have met over the years.  Some are older, some are single parents. Some are just alone in the world. Many I don't know terrible well.  They are in my  e-mail address book. 

Every now and then, maybe once a month or every couple of month, I send an email  just to say they were in my thoughts that day and that I hope that their life is full and magical. 

It seems to touch a place in people to know that some one has taken the time to say hello, not send a forward but taken the time to say some personal and caring.  

Cheap, easy, actually fun to reach out.

A Clean House And an Apple Pie!

One of my dear friends is having a rough time of it, as her husband of 21 years just walked out and announced he wants a divorce.  She is working full-time while trying to raise two teenagers, and barely has time to think. I told her sister I wished there was something more we could do for her.  "Maybe there is," her sister said, with a twinkle in her eye. We went to my friend's house the other day while she was at work. Her sister has a key to get in. She cleaned up a bit, put fresh flowers on the table, and I left a freshly baked apple pie on the counter. I also put a meal of pot roast and vegetables into her crock pot and plugged it in. Then we left. She called me later that night and told me how much that meant to her. She and ... Read Full Story >>

Seeing the Same Stranger Twice

It was a freezing cold winter day. During a late night run to the grocery store, I saw an old man slip on some ice.   An ambulance came but the man didn't want to go to the hospital (perhaps due to insurance reasons). I saw the old man starting to walk home. Feeling sorry for his condition, not even knowing who he was, I offered him a ride home.  On our way, he wanted to stop by a bar for some silly reason, so I obliged; he said he'd only be a second, but I waited nearly 15 minutes.  Still, I continued taking him home.  When we arrived at his house, about 10 minutes later, the man offered me some money, but I refused event though it was a ways out of my way. Thinking I would never see this man again, I went on home and went on with my life. Well, ... Read Full Story >>

Cereal For the Soul

A sweet and charming little old lady came up to me at the supermarket about 5 months ago.  She had strict orders from her doctor to avoid artificial ingredients, but she couldn't read the ingredients on the cereal box and was asking me for some help. "No problem," I instantly said.   I picked up the box and indeed, it's a shame that the print was so small that even I had to struggle to read it.  It turned out that it did have artificial ingredients.  With a slightly dejected face, she explained, "I'm struggling to have a decent breakfast in the mornings, because although I love porridge, I don't have enough energy to make it myself.  So I need to find something instant that doesn't have artificial ingredients." Just then, I had an idea.  "Well, I make my own muesli out of natural products and if you could give me you address, I ... Read Full Story >>

Bullying Incident on the Sidewalk

This past week, I found myself sick with the most evil flu ever. I could barely make it out of bed, much less to the outside world. Come Wednesday, though, it was parent-teacher night and there's now way I was going to miss it. So off I drive in my wobbly old van, and when I am almost at the school I see a group of kids gathered on the sidewalk. I slowed down, thinking my son may be with them and I could offer him a ride home with me, when I noticed that what I thought was a group of friends was actually a mob of all size children, kicking and hitting one boy. He was crouched down with his hands over his head, trying to block their blows with his backpack. I slammed on my breaks so suddenly the traffic behind me almost hit my rear end. I ... Read Full Story >>

An Unexpected Nudge During Lunch

The other day, I was in the checkout line for lunch at school when I realized that I had forgotten my lunch money.

I was freaking out because I hadn't eaten breakfast that day or dinner the night before. I was really hungry -- and I was starting to get dizzy.  I stepped out of the checkout line and started putting my lunch tray down, when out of nowhere this kid pulls my arm and nudges me towards checkout line. He tosses a smile card on my tray, smiles at me, and tells the cashier that he's paying for my lunch. 

It was so sweet -- it made my day!  I never did catch his name but if I see him again at lunch, I'm most definitely  returning the favor.

Later that day, I passed the smile card on to a girl who had gotten bookchecked in the hall.  I helped her pick up her stuff and get to her class.

It feels like nice to receive kindness and to be kind!

Vending Machine Help At The Hospital

I was in Pittsburgh Children Hospital yesterday for my son's chemo treatment.  While sitting in the treatment room, I recognized a lady who was there with her daughter the week before. 

I overheard her asking a nurse if she had change for a $20 for the vending machine.  No one did and her daughter was really hungry.  She is 5 and also receiving chemo. 

So I went over and said that I had overheard and wanted to know what the little girl wanted.  The mother was kindly  persistent that she did not want me to bother myself with doing it, but I told her that so many people have been kind to me and my family and it was the least I could do. 

Well, the greatest part of the whole situation was the smile on the little girls face and the nice lady that I got to develop a friendship with.  It just goes to show that even under the worst situations something great can come from it.

Half-Priced Toy, Full-Priced Joy

After noticing a few very good deals at Toys R' Us in our local paper, I decided that I would go and pick up a few specific toys so that I would have them on hand for gift giving occasions. Very specifically, there is a "Home Depot" toolkit that was half-off for $10.   Not thinking anything of it, I had planned to go pick up two of them. After browsing the store for a bit, I found the section and found the items I was looking for.  Oddly, there were just two left on the rack.  "Just enough," I thought. As I grabbed both and started my way to the cashier, I noticed that a father and his son were watching me as I passed by them.  The little boy was clearly disappointed and couldn't take his eyes off the toolkit that I was walking away with. Without being prompted, the father mentioned for ... Read Full Story >>

Smiling In The Rain

Story of Mushkil Gusha

A wonderful Sufi story by Idries Shah: Once upon a time, not a thousand miles from here, there lived a poor old wood-cutter, who was a widower, and his little daughter. He used to go every day into the mountains to cut firewood which he brought home and tied into bundles. Then he used to have breakfast and walk into the nearest town, where he would sell his wood and rest for a time before returning home. One day, when he got home very late, the girl said to him: ‘Father, I sometimes wish that we would have some nicer food, and more and different kinds of things to eat.’ 'Very well, my child,’ said the old man, ‘tomorrow I shall get up much earlier than I usually do. I shall go further into the mountains where there is more wood, and I shall bring back a much larger quantity than ... Read Full Story >>

Power of Two Mothers Praying Together

A few years ago my 21 year old son was shot with a hollow point bullet.  While in the ICU, I met another mother whose son had been thrown from a car into a tree, causing him to go into a comma. The doctors didn't have much hope for either son. 

One day, we decided to get together with a group of people and prayed holding each others hands in a circle.  It so happened that all the people who had loved ones in serious condition, every single one of them in the group, had their loved ones go home fine.

That other mother I met, the doctors were afraid that her son had brain damage, but he is fine and my son is doing fantastic as well.   In fact, my son is now the father of a beautiful 1 year old boy. 

A mothers love can work miracles. Two mothers love, is the answer to all life's prayers.   I know now why my son was shot -- God needed me there for her as he needed her there for me. Our strength helped each other grow.

Contagious Kindness Everywhere?

I always come by the site to read an off-the-wall sort of story, but since joining the site a few days ago, I'm experiencing an amazing transformation -- I see kindness EVERYWHERE!

The bus driver who waited for this old man, then bent the rules and let him out where he wanted to get off (rather than at the next stop).

The man smiling at the little boy playing.

The Dr who rushed round to a (nearly) closed clinic to give my mum the all-clear, rather than make her wait two-weeks for the usual paperwork/report to be written.

The driver who spent 5 minutes giving me accurate directions when I was lost.

My neighbor who brought round a bag of fresh fruit.

The shop-assistant who hurried up my order because she thought I was waiting too long for it.

The receptionist who understood that patients should come before Doctors.

The almost-stranger who gave me some good, unexpected advice.

 
Is this unique to me, or are you all going through this amazing experience?

My Hour On the Streets of New York

On Nov 11 of 2006, I made a deal with myself that I would give $1 to every homeless person who asked. Call it a moment of clarity or whatever, but I woke up from a rough night of partying in Vegas and just felt like this model of taking wasn't working for me anymore. Still, to be honest, I embarked on this experiment thinking that I would just bleed money, that there would be 20 or so homeless people a day coming up to me in NYC and that I would run out of money soon. This never happened. When I returned to NY, it took 8 days before I walked past a homeless person who asked me for some spare change. And by that time I had seen the folly of my own mind and was more than happy to part with a measly dollar. It wasn't about the money, ... Read Full Story >>

A Birthday Gift In Office

At my job, we work in groups that are administered by a manager.  Early last year during a brainstorming session with the group members, an idea was put forth -- to foster team spirit, let's celebrate key events in each of our lives:  birthdays, weddings and welcoming new borns!  This reminded me of our theology lecturer, Fr. Emmanuel at Strathmore University, who requested us on his first lesson for the year, to write down our birthday date so that he could offer a special prayer on the material day for each of us. A request was thus made for each of the group members to email their respective birthday dates to the appointed member who would then be the coordinator. Since then, each of the group members has had his/her birthday celebrated by all the group members and the rest of the staff in our office. On the material day, a birthday ... Read Full Story >>

Heaven and Hell Story

A man spoke with the God about heaven and hell. The God said to the man, "Come, I will show you hell."

They entered a room where a group of people sat around a huge pot of stew. Everyone was famished, desperate and starving. Each held a spoon that reached the pot, but each spoon had a handle so much longer than their own arm that it could not be used to get the stew into their own mouths. The suffering was terrible.

"Come, now I will show you heaven," the God said after a while. They entered another room, identical to the first -- the pot of stew, the group of people, the same long-handled spoons. But there everyone was happy and well-nourished. "I don't understand," said the man. "Why are they happy here when they were miserable in the other room and everything was the same?"

The God smiled, "Ah, it is simple," he said. "Here they have learned to feed each other."

My Neighbor's Encounter With Death

My neighbor was diagnosed with Leukemia.  He was told that he didn't have many days to live. While most would get depressed, he was as happy as ever!  I was confused and decided to ask him why. He was gardening when I finally asked the question.  With a smile, he responded, "Why be angry at the world when we are blessed with the knowledge of our death?  Why not embrace it give back something to our society?" The next day, I read in the newspaper that he was among the many who volunteered to help out the poverty stricken people in South Africa. He was already packing when I entered his house.  He said he want to go and enjoy the last few moments of his life helping people.   With his usual wisdom, he also noted, "It's better to live a life happily in the short amount of time then to live a ... Read Full Story >>

I Am Thankful For ...

I am thankful: For the wife Who says it's hot dogs tonight, Because she is home with me, And not out with someone else. For the husband Who is on the sofa Being a couch potato, Because he is home with me And not out at the bars. For the teenager Who is complaining about doing dishes Because it means she is at home, Not on the streets. For the taxes i pay Because it means I am employed For the mess to clean after a party Because it means i have Been surrounded by friends. For the clothes that fit a little too snug Because it means I have enough to eat.   For my shadow that watches me work Because it means I am out in the sunshine   For a lawn that needs mowing, Windows that need cleaning, And gutters that need fixing Because it means i have a home For all the complaining I hear about the government Because it means We have freedom of speech.   For the parking spot I find at the far end of the parking lot Because it means i ... Read Full Story >>

Two Women Who Taught Me Kindness

This is a story about a wonderful little snippet of life I was fortunate enough to be able to participate in. I write about it here, not to toot my own horn, but to give others an idea of how easy it is to perform a simple random act of kindness, and what a positive effect it can have. I was standing in line at our local Wal-Mart with one item in my hand at the express lance check out. The lady in front of me was a fragile looking senior citizen. Since I had been widowed fairly recently, and was still walking around in that pervasive fog that is a combination of ennui and sadness, I was so self-absorbed in my own little world of gloom that it wasn't really registering in my brain that the little old lady was having trouble getting her items out of her shopping cart ... Read Full Story >>