Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Recently, my husband and I were visiting a dear aunt in another state.

My aunt cannot leave the house.  She loves hamburgers and fries, but only eats them when they somehow find their way to her through kind visitors.  While we were visiting, we told her that we would go get breakfast and bring back her favorites upon our return. 

At the restaurant, we were seated at a booth and ordered.  The booths had very low dividers, so people could overhear conversations or converse back and forth with neighboring tables. 

Next to us was a family of four: a mother, father, daughter and son.  The boy was younger, so he was kind of busy, moving around, smiling when our eyes met, and just generally sweet.  We started a conversation with him and found that this was the first day of school for his slightly older sister, so they were celebrating by going to breakfast together before school started. 

The family looked of modest means, and were trying to make sure their son was always polite in his enthusiasm to tell his story to us.  The daughter was dressed in a special dress and her brother, in plain play clothes.  He also had only a partial hand at the end of his arm, not by injury, but by birth.  It simply hadn't developed to a complete hand.  Despite the handicap, there was no sense of limitation for this child. I was very touched that there was no sign of shyness, or sense of a difference for him.... he had held so much possibility just in the way he engaged with the world. 

My husband and I looked at each other and decided that if we leave before this family had finished, we could pay their check along with ours and add to the joy of their day. 

It sure felt good.