Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Exercising the Kindness Muscle


--by madeusmile, posted Nov 11, 2010

Today my husband and I drove to a nearby park for our exercise.  The park has a lake with a paved path along it's edge which is about two miles long.  There are some benches dotted along the path, and approximately half a mile into our first lap, we noticed a woman's purse hanging on the back of a bench.

We looked around but there was no one nearby so we opened the purse to check for identification. Although we had passed a few people during our lap, it was evident that we hadn't passed the woman in the driver's license photo.

Inside the purse was her wallet, license, credit cards, car keys, etc. so we just couldn't leave the purse there in hopes that she might return.  We decided to carry it with us and hope that we would come across the owner.  

After about another mile, we saw a man and woman walking hand in hand ahead of us. As we passed them we looked at the woman and felt sure that she was the owner of the purse. Apparently she hadn't even noticed her purse was missing - or that the purse on my arm matched hers exactly! We approached them and asked if the bag belonged to her.  

They both stood there, wide-eyed with shock to see us with her purse! She covered her mouth with her hands and said, "Yes! I left it on the ...  Bless her heart, she was so shocked she couldn't even think of the word "bench." We were so glad to return her belongings to her!  

We felt sure that God had put us there today to protect her from a loss. We completed our walk with a feeling of great accomplishment knowing that we had played a role in making her day memorable for all the right reasons! 

I was grateful that I acted on a whim allowing us to be in the right place at the right time. And also grateful that unlike some women she traveled light! Carrying another woman's purse for a mile might have been more workout than I could have managed!

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Readers Comments

heartofflesh wrote: Dear madeu,

I am not surprised by your act.You are someone very very special!!
You always listen to your heart!
unknown wrote: Right from the beginning, there was this unconventionality that seem to have directed you both. You both chose to go slightly farther ... and you found your true way ! a treasure for one and pleasure for the other !!! kudos ! :))
Aurelia wrote: Wonderful read.I am smiling from ear to ear. I know it must have felt strange looking in her purse, but good thing you did!!!! Thank you for your honesty and doing the right. You are an inspiration to all of us. :0)
You and your hubby are surely disciples :) ~Aurelia
MakeSomeoneSmile wrote: That is great! How nice of you to make sure it got back to its rightful owner. Keep up the great work! I believe there are no accidents!
Bluebell wrote: Lovely story, I am sure that your kindness is going to be told again and again by that lucky lady. Love and Light and a Million Blessings, Bluebell

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