As I grow older, I am learning that the little kindnesses I have received in my life have enriched me in more way than all the big gifts. Not that I am not grateful for the big gifts. It's just that those small acts of help I have been the beneficiary of sit in my heart, even make it grow ten times bigger like the Grinch though hopefully not from such a small starting place. So I am going to share some stories of Little Kindnesses and their Large Impact on my life.
- When I was 14, my mom and I were flying back from Washington D.C. to Phoenix via a layover in Dallas. My cousin who worked for America West Airlines had kindly given us buddy passes so we could afford to see our relatives back East. The only catch was we had to fly stand-by. Now as we boarded the plane, the airline attendant separated my mom and I and no one would let us sit together. It was full flight and because it was going to Dallas, there was a sea of expensive Stetsons and suits worn by the successful Texas businessmen flying back home. A shy, introverted 14-year-old, I started to cry, my mom was upset and about to get off the plane so we could wait for another flight. Then a kind voice with a Texas drawl said to the flight attendant, "Let the little girl sit up in first class." I turned around as one of the tall Texas businessmen smiled at me and gestured with his long-fingered, manicured hand towards the seat next to him in first class. For some reason, the attendant acquiesced and let me sit there. The older gentleman was very sweet and grandfatherly and slowly got me to talking about my trip. Yes, I missed my mom, but the attention I received in first class and the gentleman's easy and friendly nature eased my anxieties, and my mom even walked over to talk to me when the plane was at cruising altitude. We both thanked the man for his kindness always remembered him.
- A couple years ago, I house sat for a friend in San Diego. Which again was a kindness in itself. My sons and I had enjoyed a fun day at the beach with some friends frolicking in the surf. However, my oldest didn't heed my warning to reapply sunscreen and got sunburned. Later, that night he began wheezing, his asthma flaring up. Of course, I had forgotten his nebulizer back home in the desert, a two and half hour drive away. By midnight, he was feverish, hallucinating, and his asthma was worse. In a panic, I grabbed my youngest out of bed, forgetting his shoes and pants and packed both boys in the car and then tried to remember where the hospital was in Mission Hills. I carried my youngest and supported my oldest on my shoulder as we walked into the ER. I looked harried and was on the verge of tears. In seconds, the doctors took my oldest son into their care, someone got up and gave me their seat, while another lady wrapped a blanket around my youngest who was still barefoot and just wearing a t-shirt and undies. Strangers asked if I was okay and needed anything else. Some handed me a glass of water. I felt blanketed by their kindness, a warmth enveloping me and easing my panic. Both medical professionals and strangers took care of us as if we were their own. I am and will always be eternally grateful to them.
- Last night, I drove home from Universal Studios with my two sons. We were exhausted after two days of traveling from the desert first on Tuesday for a beach trip and then Wednesday to Universal Studios. Now I hate driving in L.A. and that surrounding mess of cities. I white knuckle the steering wheel of my mini-van cursing the traffic and other cars that are either at standstill going there or weaving in and out of the lanes at 100 miles per hour going home. It makes me a nervous wreck, my eyes popped open and glued to the veering cars ahead of me who speed then suddenly brake at the last second. So by 10 o'clock at night, hungry and not familiar with where the food exits were I stumbled upon a pizza place. I rushed the boys inside and ordered three individual pizzas just as the restaurant was about to close. While the extremely nice lady made the food, I babbled about driving back to the Palm Spring area between fielding questions and complaints from the boys. I am sure I looked tired and harried, my hair frizzed up from two days of humid weather, my eyes carrying their own purple luggage, and my voice taking on the almost drunken slur of the exhausted. I was just telling my boys to drink their waters when they got back in the car when she handed me three complimentary cups for the soda fountain. When the pizzas were ready, I approached the cash register to pay. But she waved me away with a smile. A warm fuzzy overwhelmed me and pricked the back of my eyes. I smiled and thanked her and walked to my car with three delicious pizzas. Moreover, her kindness gave me the energy to drive the two hours back home, not just from the food but the renewed knowledge that there are so many good people in the world.
- You see, the news - the cruel acts of school shootings and kids being separated from their parents as well as all the nastiness flying through social media has weighed me down lately. I've felt like I've been wearing a ship's anchor tied to my heart. The world has colored itself black. But this small act and all the others, plus all my good friends who I am blessed with, relieves the pressure and brings the colors back.
- Now I feel empowered to pay it forward. Those small acts of kindness are huge memories for me, ones that never dim but inspire me to be a better person.
