Stories of Kindness from Around the World

My teenage daughter has always taken special delight in receiving anything in the mail. She squeals with glee and rips open every envelope and package the moment she takes it in her hands.

A few nights ago, when we were sorting through a basket of cards and stationery, she discovered an unopened, brightly colored envelope addressed to her, bearing a postage date of over four years ago.

"What is this?" she asked, incredulous. "How did I miss this? How did it get here?" I had idea and was just as curious to see what it could have been.

She opened it up and inside was a beautiful greeting card and hand-written note from a school administrator at her former middle school. The woman had written a note to my daughter in praise of how much progress she had shown with her struggle in math class, and it noted how proud she was and how much my daughter should take pride in what she had been able to accomplish through hard work and determination. She asked my daughter to come see her and share her goals for the coming nine-week semester so they could track her progress together.

The note included the phrase that "success is never acomplished by accident" and that my daughter should always strive to continue working hard in order to enjoy continued success.

Well, although the educator could not have known how much my daughter needed that message at this exact time of her life, but apparently the universe did. She had been soul searching a lot and making decisions about the direction her life was going in lately.  She had just recently chosen a new career, education path and landed a new job. The affirmation she got from this mysteriously "late" message (that was actually magically right on time) cannot be explained by other than divine providence.

She immediately sat down and wrote the woman a detailed update on her life all these years later and a thank you for the life lesson that had found her at just the right moment.

"I am so much more prepared to receive and appreciate your words of praise and guidance now at 19 than I ever could have been at 14," my daughter wrote, explaining how very glad she was that the card wasn't opened and discarded so many years ago. She apologized for being "tardy" to share her goals for the next nine weeks, and then proceeded to share her current life goals, along with a promise to give a future update.   

It's so true that the lessons and kindness our wonderful educators share with our children never really stop "giving." They touch a life so much more than that first time.

If a teacher or administrator did something that has made a difference in your life, take a moment today to send them a note or make a phone call. We really need to encourage those who go the extra mile to do that special something to help a child along. It is an invaluable contribution to our society.