Kindness at Critical Moments

"A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds.  A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love."
~ Saint Basil

I saw someone today at a business lunch whom I don't see very often.  Although I have known him for years, I am sure that a decade could easily have gone by between our seeing each other.  Some years back, we saw each other more frequently because he was on the board of an organization at which I worked.  During that time, my father died.  I still remember arriving at the church for the Mass and this gentleman was one of the first persons I saw.  I have never forgotten that and I suspect I never will. That's how it is with kindnesses that happen when you need them the most.  They endear to you the people who were thoughtful and generous when it really mattered.