KINDNESS

 KINDNESS

1.When I was a fresh mom with two under three my card got declined in the checkout line. The baby was in the car seat, the two-year-old was asking for bubble gum and chocolate bars. I felt like I could just melt into the floor.

Without missing a beat, the man behind me in line handed the cashier his card. ‘I’ve got it.’ He said.

That was ten years ago, and I will never forget it.

When I worked at a coffee shop, we had someone buy their own coffee and then anonymously buy the next person in lines coffee just saying, ‘pay it forward’. The next person was shocked to hear their coffee was covered and said, ‘well I want to buy the one for the next costumer’. The pay-it-forward lasted most of the afternoon with people buying other people’s drinks. My friend at the cash register was near tears by the end of her shift.

 

2.I won’t ever forget that day and I doubt she has either.

One time in the Target line a mom with a brand-new infant and two littles who were crying and clinging to her legs asked if I might hold her baby for a minute. I took that baby and rocked her in my arms until she stopped fussing.

I bet that mom remembers that day, I know I do.

When my toddler was somewhere between threenager and fournado she threw I giant tantrum in a shopping center. I held her on a park bench while she screamed like I was her kidnapper. A couple older ladies stopped and said, ‘You’re doing an AMAZING job mama, hang in there!!’

 

3.I will never ever forget them or their words that day.

In a train depot in France we were lost and confused trying to figure out where to go. An older man sitting near us accidentally dropped some cash on the ground. My daughter who was six found it and returned it to him. He and his friend loaded us up with snacks from their bags and then in broken English asked if we needed help. They ended up walking us all the way to our next train and riding it with us for a while just to make sure we didn’t get lost.

We won’t ever forget those two men.

One time on a family road trip we stopped at a roadside cafe to get lunch. When we went to pay, we found out that another couple had already bought it saying that we had a ‘sweet family’.

 

4.You better believe we will remember that forever.

Kindness is so powerful. It can be such a little thing like buying someone’s coffee or giving an encouraging word to someone who could use it. You just never know the impact it might have. My guess is that most of us remember the times that someone stepped out of their own life just to bless ours.”