Unexpected Kindness. And a Deep Breath.

Today was filled with unexpected moments of kindness. They say that the kindness of strangers can make all the difference some days. For me, it made a big difference in a lot of ways today.

I was still nursing the effects of the past few days. Life decisions will do that to you, I suppose. But I woke up to a tweet, from someone I don't know, who had read yesterday's post. I have to be honest here and say that most of the time I actually forget that the blog address is even on my Twitter profile. I don't write this so everyone under the sun will read it, but it's comforting to know that those who do find it are somewhat amused. That pleases me.

Anyway, I digress.

It started with kinds word in a tweet. Unexpected, unsolicited, but uplifting....and kind. So, @dsackr if you're reading this, accept a tip of my hat and my warmest thanks.

Then, while we were out at the mall doing school today, we happened into a conversation with a woman wearing a full burka (berka?). She was amazingly kind to the kids and answered all of their questions....including why she dressed the way she did. Her answer was kind and non-confrontational and she was doing her best to put Little Miss at ease. "Why am I dressed this way? Well, the best way that I have found to explain it is to say that it's because I have a pretty face, but I want to save it and share it only with my husband. It looks a little scary though, huh?" To which Little Miss replied, "No, I'm not scared. I can see your eyes and that's the best part." She was right too. Happy, cheerful, kind eyes were crinkling above and below the cloth covering her face. She was kindness personified. No matter what she was wearing.

And then there was an old friend who tested my well-being and made sure that I was okay after making the decision. And a new friend who did the same thing. Kindness. Friendship.

It was everywhere today.

But the best part of all was that I was finally able to take a deep breath...laugh and joke and cast doubt on the fact that I'm not really blonde. I've missed that. And I bet you have too.

The Moments.

Today was filled with a lot of good moments despite the fact that two out of three kids are sick and I didn't get to bed until 2am last night (or this morning, as the case may be). Nonetheless, good things happened that weren't all that big, but they were the type of moments that fill your soul. Moments of blessing.

The first part of the story began on Wednesday, really. We had just come home from a day out and two kids were riding by on a bike on their way to the P.A.L. Center. We live directly across the street from the center, so we have kids coming and going all day long throughout the summer. There's actually a Memorial Park with a real tank and other war memorabilia between the center and our street, but it's as close to across the street as you can get.

One of them stopped and asked if he could hide his bike in and behind our evergreen. Now, we find A LOT of bikes hidden in our trees and shrubs and for a long time thought that people were stealing them and putting them back there. Turns out that the P.A.L. Center kids have been trying to hide them so that they DON'T get stolen. You would think that if you leave your bike at the POLICE Athletic League Center that it would be relatively safe. Apparently, that is not the case.

So, I told him to go ahead and hide the bike but to come and see me the next day and I'd have a lock for him for the bike. I actually got 4 locks, one for him that I kept back and 3 extras that we dropped off at the center in case others needed them. Yesterday came and went and no one stopped by. Well, around dinner time tonight the front door bell rang and there he was standing on my front steps looking completely unsure. Three of his friends were on their bikes on the sidewalk looking equally as nervous.

But I was thrilled to see him and greeted him with an excited, "I have something for you!" The look on his face, on the faces of his friends, was priceless. He thanked me and walked down the steps in shock that I had actually gotten him a bike lock. The others just stared and he said, "Don't worry, we can use this to lock up all of our bikes."

Which made me just stare. And blurt out, "Come back tomorrow. I'll have locks for all of you."

Their wide eyes and slightly disbelieving stares flipped my heart. "You're a real nice lady," one of them said softly. It doesn't matter to them that their bikes are old and beat up with cushioning coming out of the seats....they're their bikes and the only way they've been able to hang on to them is to hide them in my trees and shrubs. And that's incredibly sad.

So, Aidan and I went out and bought 6 new bike locks and I have a feeling they'll be back tomorrow. And I wouldn't be surprised if others came along.

After the kids were in bed I headed over to see Chester at the nursing home. He and Frances were the residents I adopted without really telling them. I promised him last week that I'd come by today, but with two sick kids I couldn't go until Dan got home.

He greeted me with a, "Well, hello stranger!" and a smile that brightened my heart. We talked for an hour and a half, and for a man who doesn't like to talk much, that was A LOT for him! I got him talking about his wife, Annie, and his mom and sister. He told me about being drafted and how he was worried about his mom since he was the sole caretaker of the house after his dad died. He said he tried to get Annie to wait to marry him until after he was out of the service, because he didn't want her to be burdened with caring for him if he was injured or disabled. Annie refused and told him she didn't care, she was going to marry him before he went. Good for Annie, I said. His eyes twinkled and he chuckled with remembering. They got married in August at Mt. Carmel Church in Bridgeport and had a blind accordian player as the reception entertainment. He went on with good, happy memories for a long time.

And when it was time for me to go, I told him I'd be back next Friday morning with the kids and Suzy E Jo donuts. He said I didn't have to, that he knows I'm busy. I said I wanted to, that coming to see him makes me happy, because I love him. Well, his eyes filled up with tears and he waved me away as I kissed his cheek. "Get over it, Chester," I said. "I love you and am going to keep coming to see you." He laughed and said, "I know that even if I said don't come, you'd be here anyway to make me laugh." And I would, he's right.

Because those are the moments that fill my soul to overflowing. Kindness and love and connections....the best things ever.

Strength.

Doing good for the right reasons isn't always a popular choice. You'd think it would be. But it's not always recognized for what it is. And that's a shame. What's sadder is when doing good, with kindness and compassion, is seen as weakness.

It's not.

Being kind, even when it's difficult, takes more strength of character than not. Kindness and compassion are never weaknesses. Afterall, that's what God tells us to do.

Kindness, love, compassion and understanding - these are the strengths of character that few possess. And it is an honor and blessing to have people like that in my life.

Kindness, Cheerfulness & Cancer

So many things to tell you today...

The trip to the gym this morning was eventful. A good workout, some amusing stories to relay and the ever present closed captioning word of the day. Ready?

Okay. So, today I witnessed some random acts of kindness. Pretty impressive at 6:15in the morning, but since I tend to believe the best of people it was nice to see. The first was when a gentleman helped pick up another gentleman's oxygen tank after it had tipped over. Now you don't usually see a lot of big oxygen tanks at the gym, but you have to hand it to this guy. He needed to work out and along came the tank. And a purple Crown Royale bag to hold his belongings tied to the oxygen tank. At least I'm assuming his belongings were in it and not Crown Royale. You wouldn't bring alcohol to a gym now would you? But wasn't that nice of someone else to help him pick up his oxygen tank?

The next act of kindness I witnessed was while I was riding feverishly on the recumbent bike. (Speaking of which, I really need to ask someone how to make those things work correctly....it never has much resistance. Hmm.) There was a woman trying to adjust that ungodly glute machine where you lay across it and curl your legs towards your butt. She tried pushing the leg pad arm thingy down to no avail. So, along came a big guy who apparently had just done some chest exercises because it got there before he did. "I'll get that for you," he booms. And then proceeds to struggle with it just like she did. Until they both notice the lever on the side that they need to pull. Ta-Da! Isn't that so sweet that he fixed it for her? (And then stayed there making sure she didn't need anything else....and then walked by her 3 more times to say hi...)

Such nice acts of random kindness so early in the morning. And such a great source of amusement.

As I got ready to leave I was saying goodbye to the nice guy who works at the desk in the mornings. He remarked that he always likes when I come in in the morning, because I'm always so friendly and cheerful. Awwww.... How nice. Anyone who has seen me before my fourth cup of coffee would have trouble believing there's any cheerfulness in my morning at 6am, but alas, on gym mornings there is. It made me think. And yes, hard as it is to believe, it makes me happy to go to the gym first thing in the morning. Even before I've had coffee. I think it's the whole "doing something for myself" thing. That, and knowing that my coffee will be waiting when I come home and I can get a shower. (Thanks for the coffee, hubby!) The little things.

And one more thing. My hubby's family has a history of colorectal cancer and his brother is currently receiving chemo for it. While looking online for information about the experimental drugs available for cancer that has metastasized into the liver yesterday I came across an interesting fact. Did you know that exercise can reduce the risk of colorectal cancer by 40-50%? 40-50%. That's huge. And in people who have had surgery to remove the cancer, those who exercised after the surgery (no matter what their level of fitness was prior to the surgery) reduced their chances of having a recurrence by 40% too! Colorectal cancer kills more people each year than any other type of cancer.

So, get up, get moving and stay healthy. Because no one deserves to lose a husband or daddy or brother or uncle or wife or mommy or sister or aunt.... (Nudge, nudge)