Confession on 2013’s Random Acts of Kindness

This is my update on my 2013 random acts of kindness pledge. I fell short of the plan I had to complete 2 acts a week. Instead I managed a measly 37, which averages to 3 per month. I kept track in a spiral notebook and I have now turned the page on 2013 (no excuses) and am working toward improving on last year’s commitment for 2014. One good thing that came about from keeping the notebook was that I also jotted down when I was the recipient of random acts of kindness. Reading over the notes I took on this has made me smile. After rereading my notes to self I am not discounting my efforts in 2013, but I am more determined than ever to be more aware of opportunities to do random acts of kindness for others, especially because I now have a better understanding of how they can make a person feel from both sides of the coin. I don’t think any of my previous random acts were life changing or particularly newsworthy but that doesn't make them any less important to me as a giver or to the person that received. I think making a conscientious effort to be kinder has made me a better person and I hope I’m making small, yet positive, ripples in what seems to be often a negative world be doing simple acts of kindness.

Here is one from my notebook that has carried over from 2013 to 2014: On May 19, 2013 we were staying at the LaQuinta on 34^th Street in St. Pete and while the grand boys were playing in the hotel pool we saw a boy who didn’t speak when the boys tried to get him to play with them. He was very interested in lizards and squirrels around the pool area and eventually took a water squirter offered by Jonas, who had tried talking to him in Spanish (which for him consists mostly of counting and what he’s learned from Taco Bell commercials) and from the puzzled looks it was obvious that that didn’t work. In the beginning we thought the boy was at the pool with no adult but eventually we figured out that he was there with his father, who told us Dale (named after Dale Earnhardt by his NASCAR fan Dad) didn’t speak English, and was vacationing in St. Pete from Germany. Dad spoke passable English and became one of my Face Book friends. Our act of kindness was to leave the pool toys for Dale and he seemed to especially like the squirter. The toys were given to us by a couple of folks we met at a pool in Cocoa Beach earlier that spring since they were going on a cruise from there and couldn't take them with. It was nice to pass a kindness on. Other than some random posts in my news feed I hadn't heard much of anything from Dale’s father, my FB friend until New Year’s Day when I got a message wishing our family a Happy New Year. We chatted a little and I was reminded how much Dale liked animals so I procured a snail mail address and sent him an owl hat that I crocheted. It wasn't an APO address so I hope it gets to him before the cold weather is over. Sending the hat may have been more of an impulsive act of kindness than random because Dale isn't a stranger exactly since our random play date in St. Pete but I look forward to hearing when he receives it in the mail sometime this year, 2014. My proof that a simple random act of kindness can reach across an ocean, never underestimate how far one of yours can go.