Stories Matching 'Holidays' Tag (60 matches)

Random Acts of Patience

For some months now, I've been purposely choosing the longest lines to stand in -- supermarket, movies, cash register at stores during holidays so as to "develop" patience. Then, if someone looks stressed, like a mom with kids or something, I give my place away and move back to the line or longest line. What goes on is my mind races. I start blaming -- clerk for not being faster or organization for not having more checkers, or the lady with the coupons, the man who's visa card isn't accepted. I judge the people in front of me. I notice what a rush I'm in and question why I'm doing this. My monkey mind starts to consume me, racing with endless stream of such thoughts. I often fail to do this process, just getting carried away by my todo list and my internal stress or "forgetting" to do it. But sometimes I ... Read Full Story >>

Just Desserts

This might not seem like such a big deal to someone who doesn't know me or my "story", but for my husband and I and our family it is huge. After nearly ten years of ongoing emotional battles with my husband's ex-wife, we had determined over the last year that we were finished and ready to move on.  Over the past year, in most instances we have simply made concessions to her and my step-son regarding visitation changes and the like, to promote harmony and to stay focused on the positive as we try to raise our two biological children as well.    Although this was "our" year to have my step-son for Thanksgiving his mother asked if he could come to her mother's home to have dessert after finishing his meal with our family.  After asking him if it was what he desired, my husband agreed to this.  Although it ... Read Full Story >>

Compassion in Action at a Nursing Home

A few years ago, I was working "on loan" to a company grocery store, as they were short-handed during the Christmas Holidays. I was not used to the management nor the clientele at this unit.  As I was checking groceries that morning, an elderly man in a wheelchair came through my checkstand with a basket filled with candy, cigars, and a few trinkets. As I finished ringing up his purchases, I told the man the dollar amount and he presented an out-of-state check from his son. He explained to me that his son had sent him the check for his Christmas present and he wanted to use it to purchase gifts for the friends and wonderful staff at the nursing home located a few blocks behind the store where he resided. Since this was not my "home" store, I needed to have the check approved prior to accepting it. When ... Read Full Story >>

A Fraternity Teams Up to Make a Child's Christmas

Occasionally, when I am bored, I like to poke around on Craigslist, which is an interactive site where people can post ads for just about anything – housing, jobs, dating, temporary work, etc.  I was paging through the site one day, and found an ad from a woman saying that she was on medical leave from work, had very little money, and would be unable to fund Christmas presents for her son. She felt awful about this, as her son was a good well-rounded kid, an honors student, and a boy who gave to others. I decided I wanted to help her out and even though I didn’t know her it started to feel personal at this point.  I asked her what her son wanted for Christmas and she told me that he was interested in a Guitar Hero game. I was trying to order one online, but they came in ... Read Full Story >>

Tears of Joy, Love and Gratitude

This past Christmas is the first one ever that I feared we may not be able to bring Santa to our little ones who are 5 and 3.  I tried not to get down or focus too negatively on it; I have a deep knowing that things always work out somehow and I also did not want to perpetuate a feeling of "lack" in our lives.     In late November, a memo came home from my son's school requesting anyone who felt they needed help with Christmas.  People who had children under 12 were asked to call the phone number at a local outreach center.  So, almost reluctantly, I called and was told to come to a local church the following day.  I had to bring my daughter with me and I was feeling rather sheepish and a bit sorrowful.   The happy folks, all volunteers filling monthly supplies for a needy food pantry,  were smiling and welcoming.  An elderly man gave ... Read Full Story >>

Christmas Through My Child's Eyes

My son is 4 years old and Christmas is a very magical time for children. 

My son ran down the stairs very excited as most children are on Christmas morning and went straight for the gifts under the tree.  But, to my surprise, the first gift he grabbed was a gift he made for his father and me.  

He stood there with anticipation, joy and patience as we opened our gift waiting to see the expression on ours faces. As I opened the gift, which was a hand-made wreath made of his small handprints (which is one of the best gift I received), I started to cry.   My husband leaned over and asked why I was crying.

I said I could not believe the thoughtfulness of this child and with all the gifts under the tree with his name on them, he was most excited about giving us the present he had made for us.  As a parent, I felt so proud of the child I am raising, knowing that he values other people and how they feel.

That is actually the best gift I received for Christmas.

Lessons Learned from Lavender Lilacs

I  was strolling by some lavender colored lilacs which were clustered alongside the sidewalk yesterday on the way to catch a ride with my neighbor who was joining me for a community dinner gathering. The quiet and soft movement of the little flowers as they danced in the breeze just made me pause for a moment. I looked at them swaying in the breeze as if they were alive and happy. I thought about how it would feel to make another human being alive and happy like those lilacs...  It was Mother's Day and although I was many continents away from my mother, I thought about my neighbor, who is a mother too. In fact, a mother of two. In addition to wanting to express my thanks to her for giving me a ride to the upcoming evening gathering, I scrambled back home with my new idea unfolding in my ... Read Full Story >>

Cherish Life Today for Tomorrow May Never Come

  Let Me Be A Little Kinder Glen Campbell   Let me be a little kinder Let me be a little blinder To the faults of those about me Let me praise a little more Let me be when I am weary Just a little bit more cheery Think a little more of others And a little less of me Let me be a little braver When temptation bids me waver Let me strive a little harder To be all that I should be Let me be a little meeker With the brother that is weaker Let me think more of my neighbor And a little less of me Let me be when I am weary Just a little bit more cheery Let me serve a little better Those that I am strivin' for Let me be a little meeker With the brother that is weaker Think a little more of others And a little less of me   We attend a funeral service planned for Danny at 2pm on Friday.   ~ModestoBob     Last week, two days before Father’s Day, a close personal ... Read Full Story >>

Learning from a Father's Empathy, 28 Years Later

On Sunday while I was having my own Father’s day celebration, I thought about my dad a lot.  By the time I called to tell him that I loved him, he had already gone to bed.  I was bumbed out a bit because of missing him so I thought I would write a little post about what my dad means to me. My dad is that absolute most kindest man in the world.  He would never hurt anyone intentionally and would give the shirt off his back in an instant.  This made me reflect on a story about 28 years ago. My dad was a used car salesman and owned his own car lot and body shop on several occasions.  Every Thursday night, he would head off to Shreveport, LA to the auction.  Most of the time, I drove a car over there for him so he could sell it at ... Read Full Story >>

Sharing A Little Love With Someone Who Needs It

I wrote my first Christmas card on Sunday 28th September!

Believe me, it's not like me. I usually put these things off to the last minute. But, after church on Sunday, one of the ladies from the Mothers' Union handed around some cards that they were planning to send to inmates of the nearest prison.

She asked that we each put a personal message inside - but what do you write to someone when the only thing you know about them is that they have committed a crime?

Oh, it was hard! I tapped the pen on the table for a long time searching for inspiration. In the end I had to look past the prison walls and the crime to the heart of the man.

I wrote, "Each day brings the promise of a new life. Have a Merry Christmas and a better New Year. Love. David."

It wasn't exactly inspired, but new life is what Christmas is all about and each day we have a fresh chance to make a new beginning.

I can't take credit for the idea, but wouldn't it be wonderful if we each reached out this year and shared a little love with someone who needs it?

A Home Filled With Love This Christmas

Something happened today to make me realise just how much love I have in my house and I am so thankful for that. My husband used to work in a bank but during the credit crunch he lost his job. The economy wasn't looking good and he didn't have too many options to get another bank job.  It was incredibly difficult to see him go to the warehouse to look for work, hoping and praying that he would be offered a position (where he would be paid even less than his own teenage children were making).  Someone dear to me encouraged him to keep on "keeping on" and I was right behind them.  I told him to just "go for it".  He got the job and it brought us such a feeling of pride.  With his new job we were still able to pay our mortgage and buy our groceries.  But money ... Read Full Story >>

A Lift That Gave Me Joy

Last fall, before Thanksgiving, I was making my way in my car out of the shopping center parking lot.  I was all alone in the car.  I noticed a woman laden with bags and her two boys, one carrying a pumpkin and the other another bag. I assumed that they were headed to the bus stop across the major road, since it was too far to walk with all those purchases to any of the nearby apartment communities.  On a random impulse, I rolled down my window and asked if they were indeed headed to the bus stop.  “Yes,” the mother responded.  I asked "Would you like a ride?"  "Oh yes!” was their excited reaction. I was delighted, and, after manoeuvering over to the side out of the way of other traffic, I stopped and the boys piled into the back seat.  The mother started to push in beside them.  I ... Read Full Story >>

This Is What Christmas Is All About

You never know where kindness from strangers may appear.  The snow started at 4:30 Friday evening and didn’t stop until Saturday evening.  Many parts of the northeast received up to 20 inches.  I had been snowed in for over 24 hours and was starting to feel cabin fever strike.  The shoveling started around 11:00 Sunday morning and after an hour I felt like I had just started.  I suffer from scoliosis and was starting to feel the pain so I decided to go in for a bit.  Around 2:30 I threw back on my winter gear and headed back outside, thinking to myself: “This is going to take forever and boy am I’m going to be feeling it tomorrow!”  In the distance I saw a man riding a small John Deere tracker and attached to the back a snow plow.  He stopped and offered to plow the remaining driveway making ... Read Full Story >>

Bobby's Dime

Bobby was getting cold sitting out in his back yard in the snow. Bobby didn't wear boots; he didn't like them and anyway he didn't own any. The thin sneakers he wore had a few holes in them and they did a poor job of keeping out the cold. Bobby had been in his backyard for about an hour already. Try as he might, he could not come up with an idea for his mother's Christmas gift. He shook his head as he thought, "This is useless, even if I do come up with an idea, I don't have any money to spend." Ever since his father had passed away three years ago, the family of five had struggled. It wasn't because his mother didn't care, or try, there just never seemed to be enough. She worked nights at the hospital, but the small wage that she was earning could only be ... Read Full Story >>

A Jar of Coins, a Loaf of Bread and Thou

One Year for Christmas, my brother Chris and and his wife Julie gave  each of us siblings a very thoughtful gift. Inspired by the book: "The Christmas Jar", by Jason F. Wright, they gave each sibling's family an empty quart size Mason Jar. A slot was cut in the plastic lid, and inside were a number of stickers and ribbons to decorate the jar with.   In the book: The Christmas Jar, Hope Jensen, in a moment of great grief and monetary loss, is anonymously gifted a small jar of Money. Moved, humbled, and transformed by this gift, her own faith in humanity is resurrected, as she searches for and ultimately finds the donors.   When we opened the package from my brother, inside, along with the jar and a copy of the book, was a note which read:   " In honor of the spirit of giving we were taught by Mama Rose and Papa ... Read Full Story >>

Spreading Love on Labor Day

On Labor Day last year my husband went out for a meal at a restaurant.  After we had finished, I asked him if he'd ever given a waiter/waitress a 100% tip.  He gave me this funny look (probably because he was thinking about how much our dinner added up to be!) and said he hadn't. I said that since it was Labor Day and our waitress was working this holiday, it would be fun to give her a 100% tip and see what her reaction would be.  He told me I was crazy but agreed anyway! Our dinner bill came to $32.18 so that's the exact tip we left, $32.18.  We tried to hand her our dinner bill folder but she kept telling us to leave it on the table and she would get to it.  So we left and we never got to see her reaction. I wondered off and on, and still do to this day, what ... Read Full Story >>

The Gypsy Flower Boy

In 2000, I was on holiday with my friends on the  island of Corfu, Greece. One night we were walking along the main road that was lined on both sides with bars and nightclubs and it was very late maybe 11:30pm.  I noticed that there were children walking along in front of me and I thought, "It is late for children to be up and about," but then I noticed that they were gypsy children, young girls and boys selling roses, or trying to sell roses to drunk tourists and gangs of girls out for the night! I felt sad when I saw one boy, probably no older than 8 or 9, trying to sell theflowers to the passers by and getting polite and sometimes agressive responses from the people that thronged the street. "Where were his parents and what was he doing out at this time," I thought.  I just ... Read Full Story >>

A Regular Person's Christmas Compassion

This was written by a Metro Denver Hospice Physician:  I was driving home from a meeting this evening about 5, stuck in traffic on Colorado Blvd., and the car started to choke and splutter and die - I barely managed to coast into a gas station, glad only that I would not be blocking traffic and would have a somewhat warm spot to wait for the tow truck. It wouldn't even turn over. Before I could make the call, I saw a woman walking out of the "quickie mart" building, and it looked like she slipped on some ice and fell into a gas pump, so I got out to see if she was okay.  When I got there, it looked more like she had been overcome by sobs than that she had fallen; she was a young woman who looked really haggard with dark circles under her eyes. She dropped something ... Read Full Story >>

Two Thanksgiving Smile Cards

This is my first time posting a story on helpothers because I have not had the opportunity to use my smile cards yet, but yesterday on Thanksgiving, I had the opportunity to use them twice :) Yesterday morning was thanksgiving and my husband and I were getting ready to head to Atlanta to spend the holidays with family. I was outside packing the car when I noticed a car sitting at the corner of the lane with the flashers on. There was a line of cars behind honking and getting very aggravated but the man at the wheel was just sat there. I called out to my husband and asked him to go see if the man needed help. My husband rushed across across the busy intersection and asked the man if he was okay. The man sitting there had simply ran out of gas, and could not get intouch with anyone to help him and he didn't have a gas can. My husband called me ... Read Full Story >>

My First Thanksgiving

At 47 years old who would have thought I would have been wearing a "Baby's First Thanksgiving" bib? Although I didn't actually wear a bib, last year was my first "real" Thanksgiving. I came from a broken home and when I married 25 years ago, I sought to make my family everything I didn't have growing up. I'm afraid I had that "white picket fence" mentality. Every holiday needed to be picture perfect. The food, the dishes, the house decorations, even down to the cozy sweater I had purchased especially for the occasion. I was so wrapped up in how things were suppose to be, losing sight of what meant most. So many of my years wasted on being decieved. That was then this is now. Being alone now, separated from my husband, and our son serving in the military, I was blessed to have the opportunity to truly serve. A small group of friends and ... Read Full Story >>

A 5K Run Becomes An Exercise In Compassion

Sometimes the people who are noticed the least can do the most to lift us up... On Thanksgiving morning I got up early to run in the local 5K run. I figured it might give me the motivation to get back into running.  It was nearly freezing that morning so everyone getting ready to run was hopping around trying to stay warm.   On the side of the road, sitting in the grass, was a man wrapped in a blanket.  It was pretty obvious he was homeless and as usual, most people pretended not to see him.  I went over and talked with him for a few minutes before the race.  In the midst of the idle chit-chat, he told me that he was a veteran and had hoped he might be able to earn a few dollars that morning to be able to go buy a Thanksgiving dinner.  He had a glimmer of ... Read Full Story >>

Long Distance Thanksgiving Kindness

I work with a warm, fun-loving woman named Heather.  This year our boss asked a group of us to join his family on Thanksgiving.  Seated around the table, Heather said something had totally changed her the day before -- like she was walking in a new direction.  I listened and watched as her eyes welled with tears. Heather deals daily with people on the telephone.  She was speaking with a Veteran and asked if he was looking forward to Thanksgiving.  She was surprised when he said no, and asked why. He had been let go from his job more than a month before and was having a tough time making ends meet.  He shared how hard it was to feel powerless to provide a Thanksgiving meal for his wife and children.  She wished him a happy holiday and good luck.  There was nothing to do but say good-bye and hang-up. But I must do ... Read Full Story >>

Helping An Old Man To Find Joy Again

This year had been very difficult financially for my family due to budget cuts, layoffs, and unforeseen circumstances and with the holiday season around the corner, I didn’t know how I was going to buy Christmas presents for my children until my very own Santa showed up. One day while window shopping with my 4 month old son, a stranger walked up to me and began a conversation asking the usual baby questions like how old is he, will Santa be coming to see him, was he my only child, etc. After a few minutes of talking, he introduced himself as Ralph, and asked for help with shopping for for his grandkids since he didn't know what to buy. I agreed since I was only window shopping and didn’t have anywhere to be at the time, and because I had children close to the same age that he was looking for, I  figured I’d ... Read Full Story >>

A Volcanic Eruption of Kindness in London

I run a hotel in London. During the problems with the now infamous ash cloud, I spent the morning listening to people calling in to a radio show on London's LBC radio station to tell their stories of woe....some had missed flights for holidays, some couldn't get home following the volcanic eruption. The story that struck me the most was a call from a man named Peter who had just gotten married the previous weekend to Maz.  They were due to leave for their honeymoon to the Dominican Republic but could not due to the ash cloud. When James O'Brien, the radio presenter, asked if he was upset, Peter said:  "Not at all, I've married the loveliest girl in the world whom I adore so no I'm not unhappy at all". Both, the presenter and I were blown away by the beautiful answer.  A little later, after numerous cancellations due to people not being ... Read Full Story >>

An Extra Special Holiday Gift

Many years ago, I was a struggling single mom starting up a new business. It was the holiday season, and my boyfriend and I had decided that we would splurge for just one evening, and go out to dinner. We went to the Red Lobster and it got me thinking about my college waitressing days and how much I enjoyed working during that time: people shopping, feeling joyful, and tipping big. I was in the holiday spirit and wanted to give the waitress a big tip, though I knew it wasn't going to be a big Christmas for us that year.  When we had picked what we wanted, I did a quick calculation in my head to make sure that I had enough money before we placed the order. At the end of the meal, when we asked for the check, the waitress replied "It's already taken care of." I didn't understand? She ... Read Full Story >>

An Easter Act to Remember

Two years ago, on the day before Easter, I had given my three children money instead of Easter baskets.  Later that evening, we were all sat watching TV,  when an infomercial came on about starving children. 

I couldn't help tearing up when my children said, "Mom, can we give our Easter money to these children?"  I told them yes and that God was going to bless them for this.  I wrote a cheque and sent it off in the mail.  I wanted to go get them Easter baskets for their kind act, but I didn't have any more money.

To my surprise, on Easter morning, a couple of ladies from a church we used to attend came over with a big box.  I didn't open it until they left, and when I did, tears started streaming down my and I fell to the floor with gratitude.  It contained Easter baskets for my children and a gas card for my family.

The universe is good and sometimes knocks you on your knees in tears from the way it works...

The Gift of the Magi

One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies. Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one's cheeks burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing implied. Three times Della counted it. One dollar and eighty- seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas. There was clearly nothing to do but flop down on the shabby little couch and howl. So Della did it. Which instigates the moral reflection that life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating. While the mistress of the home is gradually subsiding from the first stage to the second, take a look at the home. A furnished flat at $8 per week. It did not exactly beggar description, but it certainly had that word on the lookout for the ... Read Full Story >>

A Game of Neighborhood Christmas Tag

This story follows my previous story: Last night, my daughter and I printed out Smile Cards and attached a note to each card saying 'Merry Christmas' and 'Have a Happy New Year'. We decided to turn the cards into part of the a neighborhood tag game. You must pass your card along to someone else in the neighborhood with a piece of paper wishing them Happy Holidays too.. We delivered the cards around our neighbourhood in the dark so no one would see us - it was so cold.. :) We gave out plenty of cards to our neighbors. I was curious when I saw my neighbor run up my driveway today after her child got on her bus with a paper in her hand... It was one of our Smile Cards - we got one back!  This afternoon when I was checking my mailbox, our eldest neighbour, maybe around 80 years old, stopped at my mailbox with her friend.  She ... Read Full Story >>

A Spontaneous Christmas Gift - From Everyone

It was our turn to host the Christmas family dinner. It had been a few years since it had taken place at our house. Three deaths had occurred in the intervening years, family elders. And there was the considerable loss that went with that. One of them, the mother of my son-in-law, had died almost exactly a year earlier. She and her husband had hosted many family gatherings at their large home. The gatherings there would never be the same again without her. And so my wife and I both felt both the need and the strong wish to provide a warm setting for a healing gathering. Some years earlier a secret Santa strategy had been settled upon to help reduce the financial burden of gift exchange. The names of all would be written on separate slips and then drawn by family members. You would give a gift to the person ... Read Full Story >>

The Christmas Kindness Project

  I am a social worker and substance abuse counsellor. I wanted to tell everyone about my very dear friend and mentor who passed away a few months ago. I met him many years ago while doing my internship in the county correctional facility. He was directing a program he had designed to help inmates with their drug and alcohol problems. He was always coming up with novel ways to bring hope and help to these men and their families. One of his favorite events was the toy drive he would run every Christmas for the children of the inmates. He did this for twenty years until his sudden death. As last Christmas approached I decided that this tradition HAD to be carried on, for the children as well as the memory of my friend. But the file where he kept the names of the people who had helped him over the years had gone ... Read Full Story >>