Stories of Kindness from Around the World

In December, just before Christmas, my daughter and her husband lost a very dear friend to brain cancer.  He was married with a 13 year-old son. 

A few weeks later, my daughter called to tell me that her friend's wife was really struggling financially.  She had lost her job when her company closed suddenly a few weeks before her husband died.  The life insurance policy she thought was in place was not and she was frightened.  She was a young woman in a happy marriage one day and left with no husband, no job and no money the next.   My daughter asked, "Mom, can you think of anything to do to help?"  I told her to let me think about it for a while.

My thinking time was short.  I had my address book on the table beside me and the Christmas cards I'd received in a box next to it.  I decided on the spot to take a chance and compose a letter about this situation and send it to everyone on my Christmas list  of 37 people asking for financial help for the family.   At the end of the letter, I said that if people were not led to give, please keep the family in their thoughts.  I had to act quickly, before I lost my courage and became nervous about what my friends would think about a request like this right after Christmas.

Within 4 days of sending out the mailing, I received the first check back in the mail and after only 2 weeks I was able to give $1,000 to my daughter to pass on to her friend.  Another $1,250 has come in since then and it was just what they needed to pay the bills for a few months and stay afloat.  The wife now has a job and has written the nicest thank you notes to everyone who contributed.

It was the kindness of strangers that kept this woman and her young son going at a very difficult time.  I am delighted with the generosity of my friends, their kind notes and thoughts and have renewed my faith in humanity.