WHIRLWIND

 What a magical world we live in.

 The last couple of days have been a whirlwind. 

 I spoke with a producer of the CBS news segment “On the Road” with Steve Hartman.  She had reached out right after the Kindness Yard Sale asking if I might be willing to talk with her about doing a piece about the sale.  I put off replying because I was exhausted, but finally sat down to talk with her and after that everything was like a single snowflake that rolled and rolled into an avalanche in the span of 2 days.  Not only did they want to DO a piece, they wanted to do it in 2 days!  And they wanted me to do a “big act of kindness that they could film”.

It was an awkward position to be put in…  I wanted to do the story – it would bring more attention to kindness and perhaps bring in support for Kindness Activist.  But most of the kind acts I do with the project happen ORGANICALLY.  They are not forced and usually not PLANNED.  But I brainstormed to come up with ideas…

After I rejected all of my own ideas, David came up with a brilliant one:  PUT QUARTERS IN THE LAUNDRY MACHINES AT THE LOCAL LAUNDROMAT!  I.  Loved.  It!!!  Of course, I embellished it…  Buy laundry detergent, maybe cupcakes, and show up at the laundromat and declare loudly it was FREE LAUNDRY DAY!!!  Then stay a couple of hours chatting, dancing around, and eating cupcakes with people while their clothes washed.

And then I thought of a back-up plan:  buy grocery store gift cards and floral bouquets.  Board buses as they stopped near our home and present the presents to bus drivers to THANK THEM for being so magnificent and driving all through Covid.

I was really pleased with both ideas.

But the producer of the show was not…

So, I worked to think of yet ANOTHER idea….  I saw a blurb on Facebook for a local high school asking for donations of homecoming dresses.  Hmmm…  Wheels turning…  What if I could take a student SHOPPING for a homecoming outfit!!??  Wouldn’t that be fun?  I mean, I am ALL FOR used clothing (go Goodwill!!!), but everybody deserves a new outfit once in a while, too.

After much angst and worry, I was finally hooked up with the name of a student whose parent was willing to let them be picked up from school by a stranger and filmed for national tv… 

In fact, I almost had TWO students!  I was working super hard to get SOMETHING they could film, and just about got a student from two different sources.  In the end, one backed out due to shyness (and their parent not being thrilled about them missing some school).

This all sounds like a whirlwind, right????

But that is only the whirl, not the wind.

While this was all happening, I was sicker than I have been in a couple of years.  The world was spinnnning and I had shivers and was afraid I had, you know, Covid.  (Not to worry, 2 tests came back negative!)

I got a flat tire and had to leave my car in the Trader Joe’s parking lot overnight.

And a refugee family from Afghanistan moved into our basement apartment and will live with us for a month.

Eeerrrrr – rewind.

What?

Yes, you read that right.  We have 5 new people living in our home.

And I couldn’t be happier.

I am so honored to host these guests.  It is a mother, father, adult son, adult daughter, and young daughter from Kabul.  They got out recently and we were lucky to end up being their hosts.  I am so grateful for this opportunity.

So back to the tv filming.  The producer, host, and a cameraman arrived at our house early this morning.  I had warned our new guests that this was going to take place – the father joked that he might be in the background on American television.  😊 

But at the same time as I was prepping for the interview (how much did year one of the Kindness Yard Sale bring in??  What kind acts have we done???) – we were trying to help our new friends enroll their beautiful 8- year-old daughter in school and make sure they have the supplies they need.  To say the candle was burning at both ends is putting it mildly. 

During a quick break in “hand modeling” filming, I peeked in our backyard and saw the most beautiful sight I have seen in a very, very long time.  David, Steve (the star of the show), and the father of the Afghan family were sitting outside playing a card game.  A card game that the man from Afghanistan was teaching the 2 American men.  It was the most genuine cultural exchange that I have witnessed in oh so long.  What an HONOR, what a GIFT.  To share a game from your homeland is to share a treasure.  I quickly snuck this photo and realized that if nothing else came of the day, THIS MOMENT was enough to have witnessed.

 After a full morning of filming and answering questions at our home, it was time to PICK UP THE STUDENT I HAD NEVER MET at her high school.  I was a bit nervous, but also excited!  I wasn’t so much excited about the filming of it all, but the chance to meet a new person and take her shopping!!  It was funny – we had a Go-Pro camera attached to the passenger side window of the car as we drove to the mall, and before we had driven one block, I messed it up by raising the window.  Oops!

I won’t spoil the news about the filming and the show here.  But I will say that I feel like the student and I made a genuine connection, and that I hope she keeps in touch with me.  I had such a fabulous time talking with her, giggling, and shopping.  Once the tv crew left we set about really shopping!!  She was the perfect person to treat to a Homecoming outfit (and more).  She was humble, kind, grateful, and wise.  I would love to hang out with her again (and look forward to seeing her looking gorgeous in her homecoming photos!).

So yeah, what a strange magical world we live in. 

Aren’t we all so very lucky?

Kindness Yard Sale funds spent:

Many toiletries, supplies, beds, and bedding for family that just moved to America – $356.81

Dress, shoes, bra, necklace, purse, necklace, earrings, nails, and nail polish for Homecoming outfit – $165.63

Toy and card for new nephew in Guatemala that my new friend I took shopping has not met yet – $34.96

Gift certificate and card for very hardworking mom of new friend I took shopping – $30.96

Gift certificate for girl who couldn’t go on the televised shopping adventure today – $100

Honor of being involved in a day like today - PRICELESS

P.S. – please tune in to CBS Evening News to see the story about the Kindness Yard Sale.  It will air this Friday, October 8^th at 6:30 PM Eastern. 

Statue of Kindness

Not gonna lie, I am finding it difficult to see the kindness in the world lately.  There is SO MUCH negativity, so much anger, so much destruction, so much snarkiness.  All of that can be blinding, at least for people who wear their hearts on their sleeves like me. 

So today I am writing a Kindness Activist piece in the hopes that by sitting down and putting my thoughts on "paper" I will be more able to see the KINDNESS that I know is still out there (just hiding from my view).

My cousin Brenda* is one of the kindest people on the planet and often uses her social media to spread information about causes – dogs that are missing, children that are sick, veterans that need help.  Last month she posted something about a statue being stolen from a grave site in Omaha.  And if that isn’t sad enough, it was taken from a CHILD’S GRAVE.  It hurt my heart to think about what that poor family must have thought – they showed up at the grave site for Mother’s Day to find the statue for their little boy was gone.  What kind of mean person does that??

Brayden's grave, with the sweet baseball boy statue before it was stolen

The post had a link to the story on a local news channel:  Local News Story Link

I watched the clip of the story and decided to see if there might be a way to help.  I had a photo of the statue, so I searched online to find a store that might have the same one.  It turned out that Nagel’s Landscaping in St. Paul, Minnesota had it!  I called and they said they could ship it for us.  Of course, it was not a light item to ship, so not cheap. 

Replacement located!  Now how to buy it....

I couldn’t really afford to pay for the statue and shipping myself, so I reached out to friends on social media and in a Facebook group about Kindness.  Before I knew it, we had enough to cover everything!  A complete stranger in the FB group gave a large donation (THANK YOU so much Donna!) and between 7 others we got it all covered. 

Before I could get all of that organized, someone else had gone to the cemetery and replaced the statue with a different one, not quite the same as the one that had been stolen.  Apparently, they cemented it down so that no one could take it (alas, that also means it can’t be replaced with the exact same one that used to be there…).  We decided that even though the grave site now had a new statue, the family might still be happy to get one that looked the SAME as the one that used to be there. 

Replacement ball player, arrived in Nebraska safely!

So, I called the company in Minnesota and they shipped it to my cousin in Nebraska.  She then delivered it to the family, who were overjoyed to get it.  Brenda reported that the mom and her sister cried and hugged her (which is good, as Brenda is an excellent hugger).  The word is that if I get to meet the family the next time I go to Omaha I am scheduled for a hug, too!

The new statue now lives in the family’s garden, where it is a safe and a daily reminder of their little angel. 

Facebook message from the family

This story is a good reminder, to me at least, that even when it feels like the world is full of sadness, if you look hard enough you will see a ray of kindness peeking through.

Thank you note and a photo of the beautiful baby

Be kind.  Please. 

* Here is another Kindness Activist piece featuring my cousin Brenda that I wrote early on in this project.  Like I said, she is super duper kind, and is deserving of many feature articles about her!  83 Pairs of Kindness