Random Act of Kindness of the Day 31 Aug 2007 02:07 pm
Random Act of Kindness of the Day: pay it forward.
Two days ago I was in the drug store and while I was paying for my stuff the kids were on the nearby toy aisle checking out water guns. I bent down to pick up “the baby” and at his feet lay a crisp, brand new $100 dollar bill.
I scooped it up and looked around. Could we use it? My first thought was that with cash, if you go up to someone and say, “excuse me…did you happen to loose $100?” there is no way to really know for sure if they’d tell the truth. We recently have been very graciously given gifts of support to help us through our time in the hospital and my next thought was that maybe this was some kind of heavenly blessing.
I turned to gather the rest of the kids and when I did so, I saw a clerk crying in the corner. Another clerk was walking nearby with her head down, as if she was looking for something. I felt like heaven had given me a different kind of blessing.
“Excuse me…are you looking for something?” I asked.
She hesitated but then said “yes”.
“Was it money?”
“Yes…we lost something from our cash drawer and we have to pay it ourselves if we can’t find it.”
“Is it this?” I asked, taking out the bill and showing it to her.
What followed was more tears and sighs of relief and thank-yous. I felt soooo good that I knew with confidence that this belonged to them and actually speaking up about it had saved them grief; around here, especially for store-clerk earners, that amount of money is a big deal. I left with a good feeling; a better one than just finding a large bill on the ground and wondering who it really belonged to would have given.
Today in the mail an envelope came. A Random Act of Kindness with the line, I think from the movie pay it Forward, saying, “A Random Act of Kindness is it’s own reward. When you have the opportunity- pay it forward.” The amount inside the card? One hundred dollars. The giver? A dear reader who joins so many of you others, who have expressed encouragement, support, mailed stuffed monkeys, passed me gift cards for coffee, listened to my processing thoughts, prayed for us, sent coloring books and pictures, and overall, have just been there for us in ways I could have never imagined. A huge THANKS to all, from our family, and most especially Wheaton, who doesn’t feel alone.
And so “pay it forward” we shall. May the circle be unbroken.
on 31 Aug 2007 at 2:33 pm 1.gina said …
It’s a favorite movie of mine too- I wouldn’t be surprised if you aren’t blessed much more by your honesty. How is it going with Wheaton at home now? What kinds of changes have you had to make to his menu? Take care!
on 31 Aug 2007 at 2:40 pm 2.Tia said …
Wheaton is doing great; thanks for asking. The meds are doing a good job keeping things quiet. I’m a little sad at seeing his cheeks puff out from them but it’s reversible. When he stops taking it, they should go back down. The only dietary change we’ve made is that he now gets no fried food and we’re careful with fiber. He seems to not have any allergies and we already ate a good diet so there isn’t a lot to restrict.
on 01 Sep 2007 at 8:15 pm 3.gina said …
Oh that’s good news! You had written something about no lactose so I thought maybe you had to take all that out. I bet he’s happy to be home again and able to play outside eh?
on 01 Sep 2007 at 9:52 pm 4.dalimama said …
I have my own pay it forward story to tell from my trip to Georgia so I’ll have to type it out sometime soon. I am amazed at the people out there who really do care about strangers without expecting anything in return. I’m glad you were able to return the money to the right person.
Glad Wheaton is home and doing better!
on 04 Sep 2007 at 5:27 pm 5.Susanna a.k.a. Cheap Like Me said …
Beautiful story! Thank you for telling it.