This last month has felt heavy.
Whether you have been directly affected or not, the heaviness is still there. Cancer has invaded my circle. The unexpected death of loved ones has hit my friends and co-workers somewhat weekly. The national tragedies all around us seem to be more frequent and creeping closer with each event. Although I am fortunate to still be on the “outside” of these tragedies, my heart has still felt them. I’ve felt a weight on my shoulders and a longing for life to return to the simplicities of my childhood. Sometimes I wonder if it’s just a technology-free life I crave because then I wouldn’t see the good, the bad, and the very ugly of society. The things I see and read leave me wondering: does kindness even exist anymore?
A few weeks ago, I got my answer.
Everything changed for the better on a Saturday. It was a normal Saturday for my family. This time of year consists of soccer in the morning and hockey the rest of the day. A sweet grandfather that I met through hockey, and who has had more tragedy in his life lately than I could ever dream of, recently began baking. I would assume that the baking brings him joy. He lost his daughter, a fellow mom on our hockey team, in 2021 to Covid and most recently, lost his wife to cancer as well. He has every right to be grumpy and depressed, and to only think of himself and his unfair lot in life. Instead, he reached out that Saturday and told me he was bringing me homemade cookies. Big deal, right? Well, it was a big deal. He went out of his way to not only make homemade cookies for me, but to make them gluten free as well because he knows I have Celiac Disease. I know what a pain it is to bake gluten free, not to mention the expense of the ingredients. In that little container were eight cookies, but also an act of kindness that he had no idea I desperately needed. That container held his time, his energy, his money, and his thoughtfulness. It also completely altered my state of mind. Kindness did still exist in the form of the most delicious gf sugar cookies I’ve ever eaten. Thank you, James.
Two days later, still riding the high of the sugar cookies that I ate for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I received a card in the mail. It wasn’t my birthday, and I wasn’t aware of any event coming up that I would be receiving an invitation for. I set it aside for the moment knowing I’d get to the mail once I got the kids settled for dinner. Later that night, I opened it and was shocked to find the most beautiful handmade card. I recognized the type of card immediately and smiled knowing that this same person had made me another one before. Years ago, when we spent more time together, this dear friend would often make me little notes or birthday cards for my son. As time passed, our boys grew up, our lives changed a lot, and although we have always been friends, we just didn’t see each other as much.
This card recalled not only our friendship, but why she and I became friends in the first place. To put it bluntly, she told me how wonderful I was. I don’t say that to brag. I say that to say that I read the card with tears streaming down my face because as friendships change and life gets busy, you often feel as if you are forgotten, and you worry that your friends think you’ve forgotten them. She hasn’t forgotten me and I haven’t forgotten her. That card spoke more words to me than an entire lifetime of friendship. That small act of kindness, just like the sugar cookies, stamped my heart forever. I keep that card on my bathroom sink and look at it every day to remind myself that simple acts of kindness can make someone else feel the way I felt when I read that card. Thank you, Sarah.
I say all this not to brag on my friends or not to brag on myself, but really to brag on humanity. Don’t watch TV and think that is humanity. Don’t read political arguments and think that is humanity. Don’t read Facebook posts with comments that make you cringe and think all hope is lost in the world. It isn’t. There are still really good people out there. There are still people making a positive impact on others every single day. There are still people baking homemade sugar cookies for others and sending homemade cards to others.
Find those people. Be that person. Kindness still exists, mommas. Let’s tell our children that.
