The Lay-away Surprise

 This was posted on Facebook by my good friend Kerri DeBlasi.

"RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS JUST HAPPENED! :) I just got a call from a close friend of mine; she had just gone to the Marshall's in Ansonia to pay for and get her son's gifts out of lay-away. When she got there, she was told that a couple days ago, a man came in and "paid off most of the lay aways". The Marshall's employee handed her bag to her and a receipt (she now owed NOTHING) and the receipt was signed "Merry Christmas. A random act of kindness". That was BEAUTIFUL."

It always makes me smile when I learn about others doing kindhearted things like this.

The Spirit Of Giving (guest post)

I saw this update on Facebook made by my friend Tia Church-Grayson, and I thought it was too beautiful not to share here, so here is an impromptu guest post by Tia Church-Grayson.

A Vietnam vet approached me at Walmart, handed me $50 and told me to get my son something nice for the holidays. He said he was sick as a dog and there wasn't anything anyone could do. He promised himself that he would do this for children if he ever came into money. I started crying seeing the true meaning of the holidays come from a complete stranger.

Being Neighborly

Yesterday, my husband sprained his ankle quite badly while walking the dog. His ankle is really swollen and painful. He had been planning on mowing our lawn today because it was a really sunny and warm day, but with his sprained ankle, it wasn't going to happen.

Our neighbor across the street from us asked us if she could borrow our extension cord for her lawn mower. We are always willing to share so we brought it over to her. Her lawn was as much in need of mowing as ours and most of the other neighbors' was.

She then proceeded, in blistering heat, to mow, not only her own lawn, but our lawn and a few of our other neighbors' lawns too! It was such an incredibly kind, generous and neighborly thing to do! And the thing that makes it extra special is that this is a new housing area, and we have all only lived here a few months. None of us really knows one another very well yet, so an act of kindness from a neighbor is a wonderful thing to experience! It helps build a sense of community amongst us.

Wouldn't our world be a better place if people's neighbors all looked out for one another and lent a hand when they could? What can you do to help out a neighbor?

A Kind Stranger Rescues The Stranded Teddy Bear

Yesterday, my youngest three children went to a birthday party. In the party favors that they brought home, they each got a small teddy bear. My four year old was thrilled with his as it was green and had a little soccer ball on its chest. He took it to bed with him last night, brought it to breakfast with him this morning, and was taking it to school with him today too.

Unfortunately, while we were waiting for the bus on the way to his school, he decided to throw his teddy bear into the air over and over, and, during one of those throws, it landed on top of the bus stop's shelter. There was no way I could reach it to get it down. I am only 5'2" tall. I tried putting one of his sisters on my shoulders but they still weren't tall enough on my shoulders to reach it. I couldn't even see the teddy bear up there unless I stepped back really far from the bus shelter and stood on my tippy-toes.

I took a very sad four year old to school. I hated seeing him so sad about it, so I decided to try again to get it down when I got home. Once I got back home, I went inside and got the pole with hook that we have for opening out skylights and went back to the bus stop.

Even with the long pole with the hook, I could not rescue the teddy bear. I thought maybe my husband, being 6'8" tall, might be able to have better luck when he got home, but he wouldn't be home until after 5:00pm, and it looked like it was going to rain.

This is where the kind stranger comes in; a man was walking towards my direction. Before he got to me, he was about to cross the street, but he saw my struggling to try and get the teddy bear down, so instead of crossing the street and continuing to wherever it was he was going, he came over to me and asked if I would like some help. I told him about the teddy bear, and he quickly took the pole and started helping.

In three tries, this man succeeded in getting the teddy bear down from the top of the bus shelter, and I thanked him with a big smile. He then continued on to his original destination. It was so kind of him to stop and help, and I knew I had to share his kind deed here.

I don't know who he was, but I am pleased to find people in this world who are willing to take a moment out of their daily lives to help someone else. And my four year old is going to be so happy when I pick him up from school and show him that his teddy bear has been rescued!

Make A Wish Experience (guest post)

Here is a guest post from Constanza Ehrenhaus. Constance is a freelance illustrator who loves fantasy art, cooking and is now also a stay home mom. Her art can be found in several websites, including Deviantart and she writes a blog focused in art and cooking. Soon she will also be blogging about saving the environment and your money at Sensibly Green.

Until I got pregnant with my first child I was a volunteer for Make a Wish. Make a Wish is a foundation that grants wishes to children that have a life threatening disease and that is a cause I can identify with. They work hard to bring those children and their families a happy experience away from the doctors, medicine and hospitals.

One time we had to work with this 6 year old girl who had leukemia. Her wish was to go on a shopping spree, and one of the things shopping sprees include is going to dinner with your family to a restaurant of your choice. She chose to go to Red Lobster, in Monroeville, PA. Once we were done shopping, the other volunteer and I rushed to the red lobster to prepare an extra surprise for that girl; it was her birthday and we had cake, balloons and decorations for her. I had called in advance explaining to the manager that we were fulfilling a wish and they were waiting for us. They gave us a special table, gave us special attention, and, once we started singing the happy birthday, all of the Red Lobster staff came out singing happy birthday to this little girl! They had gathered in the back of the kitchen and put some money together to give her as a gift. This spontaneous demonstration moved me very much. They all wanted to be part of that very special moment.

Once we were done and the family was ready to go back home, the other volunteer and I started to pick up the mess left after the small celebration. Once more the staff came out, the manager and the waiters, and they thanked us for what we were doing! They started to tell us how great we were; one of the waiters had previously had a great experience with Make a Wish because his little sister had been very sick before, and they started to share stories. I was so touched by their generosity and amazing attitude, after all they had done for us and that girl, they came to say thank you.

I have no words to describe the incredible sensation of happiness and warmth that they made me feel. They are the kind of people that give me hope for this world, and I hope they are blessed threefold for their acts of love that day.

Giving Up Your Seat

I ride the bus a lot. Today, there were a lot of ederly people taking the same bus as me. I had my son in his stroller, but, even so, I adjusted his stroller around and stood to let an elderly lady take my seat. This is something that used to be commonly done by people. People used to automatically give up their seats for the ederly or pregnant, but I see it happenning less and less now.

I helped others by putting their rolling shopping bags (I have no idea what those things are called) in the space for luggage and getting it down again. And as people got on and off the bus, I found myself constantly adjusting where I stood and giving up any available seats for those who needed the seats more.

I noticed that, some people who had not been giving up their seats, after I started to do so, they started to do so as well. I don't think they were consciously being rude by not giving up their seats before, I think they had just been lost in their own thoughts and hadn't noticed, or the thought of doing so just hadn't crossed their minds. My doing so served as a reminder to them, and, as they were good hearted people, they started to do the same.

At the time, I really hadn't thought anything of it. It is just one of those things that you are supposed to automatically do. It's a part of having good manners, thinking compassionately and being a part of society. However, one lady who had been sitting at the back of the bus, when she got off the bus, approached me. She told me that it had done her heart good to see me giving up my seat and being so helpful to others and it was a shame that others weren't as helpful. She told me how wonderful she thought what I had been doing was.

This made me feel good as well as embarrassed, which is my typical response to compliments and praise. I thanked her, but her words got me to thinking. What has happened to our society when simple acts of kindness that used to be a constant action within society, that used to be expected, are now considered special or unusual. A kind behaviour that used to be expected from others is now a surprise when it is done. It is not a good sign. People are forgetting compassion. People are forgetting to feel empathy. People are so caught up in their own lives that they are ignorant and blind to others who inhabit the same world that they inhabit.

Maybe that is something people need to work at regaining: a sense of community and an awareness of the people around them.

Compliments

Pay someone an honest compliment today.

This doesn't mean tell someone they look pretty or that you like their dress when you don't really think so. This is about being honest while paying a compliment. Look at someone you know and think about something you like about them. Then tell them.