Gratitude ~ The Thread

[SweetnessandLight]

Kindness Story Number Three:

REMEMBERING KINDNESS 41 YEARS LATER

"-posted by wooka85257 on Aug 17, 2011

I was twenty-four years old and three months pregnant when my husband died.

I was a widow and an expectant mother in the same day.

We had bought a new home and I had filled our two bedroom apartment with nursery items in anticipation of moving in. Now the house would be taken away. I knew I would have to go back to my parents' home, at least until I delivered the baby. And the shock of my husband's sudden death had made losing the baby a very real possibility.

I moved back into my old bedroom. My twin bed, a crib and a dresser was all that could fit in the 8 x 10 foot bedroom. The rest of our furniture had to go into storage.

I was able to pay for three months worth of storage and then I would have to sell all the new furniture we had bought for our new home because I wouldn't be able to pay any more storage fees.

I had been told I couldn't grieve my husband's death because the baby was so at risk of delivering early, so I focused on keeping calm. Of course, that wasn't easy - and it only got more difficult! Because I tend not to be a person who shares my troubles much, I had told no one but my sister. She was poorer than me and could only provide moral support. My parents were just making ends meet with another mouth to feed.

Then one day in early January 1971 I received a cashier's check for $500. I had no idea who it was from and no amount of calling the financial institution who issued it gave me any clues. I was saved! We had enough money to pay for the storage rental for nearly another year!

I was so happy I smiled all day - something I hadn't done in months!

Then, on the same day, my husband's boss came to the house saying he wanted to see how I was doing. I told him about the check and he was thrilled for me. I knew I had nothing coming from the company my husband had worked for because he had been there only 6 months. In order to get insurance payments or death benefits you had to be with the company for a year.

The man sat down and pulled out three envelopes. The first was what we were due of my husband's salary for his last month. The second was a bonus check he had earned for the month before (which was originally due to be issued at the end of the year.) And the third was for $10,000, which was his death benefits with the company!

I was incredulous! How could this be? His boss explained the first two checks were due us for services rendered, and he said he used his twenty-eight years with the company to make sure they did the right thing by us.

To this day I don't know how he did it but that money saved us.

After the baby was born (with health issues that required thirteen surgeries in two years,) I was able to stay home with him until he was healthy enough to go to a nursery school with other kids. And it allowed us to move to a little apartment of our own.

In one day we had been saved by two angels with acts of kindness that touched my very soul. It was forty-one years ago but I have never forgotten them or that day.

It was the day I smiled from morning to night!"

From: http://www.helpothers.org/story.php?sid=27259

[SweetnessandLight]

Kindness Story Number Two

A BEAUTIFUL ACT OF PAY IT FORWARD

"--posted by Smiley70 on Jun 9, 2011

I truly believe in the power of paying it forward and I have always gotten enjoyment and fulfillment from it.

Last year, I was waiting at the traffic lights on my way to work, when my car was rammed from behind. After pulling over, a flustered young man admitted his fault and proceed to apologize and explain why he had not been ‘in the moment’ whilst driving. He told me that he had just been evicted and that his insurance had just run out. I could feel his genuine stress, and as he gave me his details and promised to find a way to pay for it, I tried to comfort him and told him to not worry too much; we will work it out and to please have a great day.

When I got to work, my work colleagues hounded me to get a quote quickly and were appalled that I had not collected his registration details (oops). The same thing happened when I told my sister what had happened and she sternly told me not to let him get away with it. She knew that I had a small amount of money in the bank (saved for dental work) and was worried that I would not pursue damages.

With everyone pressuring me to chase up compensation, I was unsure of what to do. I decided to purchased a small second hand car and pondered on my dilemma. After about 4 months, it was coming up towards Christmas and I started to think about how nervous this young man might be feeling, waiting for me to ‘sting’ him, so I finally made my decision and sent him this message:

"Hi Joe,

A few weeks back you hit the back of my car. I have managed to pick up another car, so I have been able to get around. I want to let you know that I am not going to seek any payment from you. If in future you could help someone, that would be great. Wishing you a wonderful Christmas and hope next year is better."

This young man was so grateful, and I felt that finally a weight had been shifted from my shoulders. If only I had trusted my own heart earlier we both could have been spared some unnecessary stress! "



From: http://www.helpothers.org/story.php?sid=26594

[SweetnessandLight]

Kindness Story Number One:

TODAY YOU, TOMORROW ME

"--posted by Justin Horner on Mar 10, 2011

During this past year I’ve had three instances of car trouble: a blowout on a freeway, a bunch of blown fuses and an out-of-gas situation. They all happened while I was driving other people’s cars, which for some reason makes it worse on an emotional level. And on a practical level as well, what with the fact that I carry things like a jack and extra fuses in my own car, and know enough not to park on a steep incline with less than a gallon of fuel.

Each time, when these things happened, I was disgusted with the way people didn’t bother to help. I was stuck on the side of the freeway hoping my friend’s roadside service would show, just watching tow trucks cruise past me. The people at the gas stations where I asked for a gas can told me that they couldn’t lend them out "for safety reasons," but that I could buy a really crappy one-gallon can, with no cap, for $15. It was enough to make me say stuff like "this country is going to hell in a handbasket," which I actually said.

But you know who came to my rescue all three times? Immigrants. Mexican immigrants. None of them spoke any English.

One of those guys stopped to help me with the blowout even though he had his whole family of four in tow. I was on the side of the road for close to three hours with my friend's big Jeep. I put signs in the windows, big signs that said, "NEED A JACK," and offered money. Nothing. Right as I was about to give up and start hitching, a van pulled over, and the guy bounded out.

He sized up the situation and called for his daughter, who spoke English. He conveyed through her that he had a jack but that it was too small for the Jeep, so we would need to brace it. Then he got a saw from the van and cut a section out of a big log on the side of the road. We rolled it over, put his jack on top and we were in business.

I started taking the wheel off, and then, if you can believe it, I broke his tire iron. It was one of those collapsible ones, and I wasn’t careful, and I snapped the head clean off. Damn.

No worries: he ran to the van and handed it to his wife, and she was gone in a flash down the road to buy a new tire iron. She was back in 15 minutes. We finished the job with a little sweat and cussing (the log started to give), and I was a very happy man.

The two of us were filthy and sweaty. His wife produced a large water jug for us to wash our hands in. I tried to put a 20 in the man’s hand, but he wouldn’t take it, so instead I went up to the van and gave it to his wife as quietly as I could. I thanked them up one side and down the other. I asked the little girl where they lived, thinking maybe I’d send them a gift for being so awesome. She said they lived in Mexico. They were in Oregon so Mommy and Daddy could pick cherries for the next few weeks. Then they were going to pick peaches, then go back home.

After I said my goodbyes and started walking back to the Jeep, the girl called out and asked if I’d had lunch. When I told her no, she ran up and handed me a tamale.

This family, undoubtedly poorer than just about everyone else on that stretch of highway, working on a seasonal basis where time is money, took a couple of hours out of their day to help a strange guy on the side of the road while people in tow trucks were just passing him by.

But we weren’t done yet. I thanked them again and walked back to my car and opened the foil on the tamale (I was starving by this point), and what did I find inside? My $20 bill! I whirled around and ran to the van and the guy rolled down his window. He saw the $20 in my hand and just started shaking his head no. All I could think to say was, "Por favor, por favor, por favor," with my hands out. The guy just smiled and, with what looked like great concentration, said in English: "Today you, tomorrow me."

Then he rolled up his window and drove away, with his daughter waving to me from the back. I sat in my car eating the best tamale I’ve ever had, and I just started to cry. It had been a rough year; nothing seemed to break my way. This was so out of left field I just couldn’t handle it.

In the several months since then I’ve changed a couple of tires, given a few rides to gas stations and once drove 50 miles out of my way to get a girl to an airport. I won’t accept money. But every time I’m able to help, I feel as if I’m putting something in the bank."

[From a post on reddit.com and re-published in NY Times.]



From: http://www.helpothers.org/story.php?sid=25237

[SweetnessandLight]

[SweetnessandLight]

[SweetnessandLight]

[SweetnessandLight]

[Commander Birdsong]

"pity the poor atheist who feeling grateful hath no one to thank"

[SweetnessandLight]

I'm grateful that soon we will be starting the year of the Dragon!




Very Lucky and auspicious!!!

[SweetnessandLight]

Whatever you are facing folks, don't be discouraged!