Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Sometimes I am witness to acts of selfless generosity that are nearly invisible and done with no thought that anyone would see them other than the person to whom the act is directed.

Here's an example.It comes from our little artist breakfast group that we host every week. Taya, who is a remarkable artist, is moving to New Mexico. She's 75 and has decided she wants to start a new chapter in her life. So she has just completed the purchase of a property in a tiny community in New Mexico where she knows no one. She is leaving Oakland where she has lived for perhaps 25 or 30 years and, of course, leaving her circle of friends. This in itself is astonishing.

One of our group, Edythe, had mentioned [only mentioned] how she is fond of the beauty of coins, not for their monetary value, but just for their beauty.

This morning as Taya was leaving the group [it was perhaps her last time with us] she quietly set a small cloth bag in front of this woman and after hugs all around, she left.  Someone at the table asked, "What's in the bag?" Of course, Edythe didn't know. So she opened it and pulled out a little packet of aluminum foil. She unwrapped that, and found six beautiful sliver coins in it. Wow! That was a surprise. But there were still other carefully wrapped items in the bag. She pulled out another little parcel and unwrapped it. More silver coins! This time U.S. silver dollars. These are collectibles and worth far more than face value. There were even a number of old five dollar bills, silver certificates. Edythe didn't open everything, but I'm guessing the contents of the bag were worth easily several hundred dollars.

Taya is not a wealthy person. On the contrary, she gets by in a very modest way and no doubt could use the money especially for her new adventure. But she simply left it behind as a gift.

This stunned me, showing so powerfully this woman's generosity and lack of attachment to money—something that runs so deep for most of us. Taya all along has been an inspiration to us each Monday in many ways because of her truly unique attitude toward life. And all done without the slightest thought  that anyone should pay her any kind of compliments or praise.