The Kindness of Sharing Experiences

"In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter and sharing of pleasures.  For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed."

~ Khalil Gibran

For me, one of the best things about technology -- and specifically the ability to send photos and messages immediately through our mobile phones -- is that it enables us to share experiences with friends and family.  I love sending and receiving photos from friends as it enables us to get a sense of what the other is doing in a very vivid way.  On the same evening that I shared photos of my family members dressed up in costume for a party, a friend shared a cute comment that her son had made and a former colleague wrote to me about his experiences presenting at a conference in Africa.  I truly appreciate my friends' sharing their lives with me.

Kindness and a Ride Home

"We are all here on earth to help others; what on earth the others are her for I don't know."

~ W. H. Auden

On a recent afternoon, a mother I know was involved in an event that ran longer than she anticipated, which meant that she would be late to pick up her son at school.  She called her husband, but he was unavailable.  Another mother at the event told the mother that her babysitter could pick up the child.  Calls were made to the school, a map with directions to the house was texted to the babysitter and the mother breathed a sigh of relief.

Kindness and Magic Bars

"Kindness is the touch of heaven, a reminder of the covenant of the unseen."

~ Mark Anthony

I was in my kitchen recently after making another batch of "magic bars."  My son really likes them, but this was my second attempt in as many weeks and I just wasn't getting it right.  As I washed the pan in the sink, I remembered the first time I tasted the delicious cookie bars.  A colleague of mine at work made me a batch for Christmas and gave it to me in a beautiful antique cookie tin.  That was 26 years ago...  Kindness has staying power.

The Kindness of a Polite and Generous Refusal

"Sometimes 'no' is the kindest word."

~ Vironika Tugaleva

On a recent Sunday, we attended the coffee hour after church services.  I went into the kitchen toward the end to help the woman who had hosted clean up.  Thank you, but no, she said.  And with a smile, she told me to go and enjoy the rest of the day with my family.

The Kindness of Raising a Young Man of Character

"If you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do matters very much."

~ Jackie Kennedy

I recently took a group of teenagers to a school dance.  The girls were accompanied by a remarkable young man.  You could call him a Super Young Man.  (Yes, he once jumped over a bush to open my car door.)  This young man is incredibly polite and opening car doors is just one of the many habits that he has.  On our way to the dance, I asked him about a movie I was going to watch as I figured I would be arriving a few minutes late.  He pulled up a summary of the movie on his phone to tell me about the beginning.  And then when I dropped off the group at the school, I watched this young man shake the hand of the school principal as he entered the dance.  As I drove away from the school, I realized that I felt so much better about leaving my daughters and their friends at the dance given that this young man was with them.  

The Kindness of Checking In on Each Other

"Without a sense of caring, there can be no sense of community."

~ Anthony J. D'Angelo

Something unusual happened in the quiet community where we live.  An armed man broke into a house, tied up the person inside and ransacked the home.  The schools in our community were on lock down and the police were urging people to stay home while they looked for the suspect.  Before I even heard the news, I received a call from my brother wanting to know where I and my children were.  A series of calls and texts followed between and among people, most within the community as well as some from other places who had heard the news.  By day's end, the police had not found the burglar, but we were reminded of our sense of community.

Kindness and Bananas

"If you really want to make a friend, go to someone's house and eat with him... the people who give you their food give you their heart."

~ Cesar Chavez

The other day, I was driving around between errands and picking up children.  As I drove to pick up one of my children's friends, I realized that I had not eaten much and it was getting late in the day.  I rummaged through my purse and found a Ziploc bag about a quarter-filled with Cheerios.  Not enough, but...  When I called the mother of the child I was picking up to tell her I was almost there, she asked me if I wanted a couple of bananas from one of her trees.  I was thrilled.