Random Acts of Kindness Makes Everyone Feel Good

February 17th is the date on the calendar when we're asked to do something nice for another.  I started planning for that soon after the holidays.  My thoughts:

• I'd visit the retirees I'd sent Christmas cards yet hadn't seen for years.

• I'd pick up trash along our rural road.

My intentions were good.

• I visited one retiree who just entered a rehabilitation center after leaving the hospital.

• I picked up trash from the first leg of our road (.2 miles).

Then it snowed and stayed cold.  The road litter was covered in snow.  Travel was limited.

I planned treat bags for seniors to take to my Mom's center.  Brown bags were decorated with pink hearts.  The cranberries I purchased in December and froze were combined with other crunchy ingredients to make a chutney and canned in ball jars.  The ingredients were labeled on each jar.  The bags were set out during meal time where those attending the center could take one if they wanted.  It made me so happy to see the elderly men and women leaving the center with a treat bag in hand.

What do I like about taking these to the senior center?  The gifts are random.  I know only a few people who go here.  The adult can choose to take one or not.

In the summer, I take several dozen ears of corn on the cob fresh picked from a local farm for the seniors to take if they want them.

In the fall, I took bags of apples from the university farms for giveaway.  

These are elderly people, many single, who can't go to the farm.  These are people who may not get a valentine treat bag.

I enjoy passing my grocery cart to another shopper without expecting a quarter in return.  I ask the receiver to "pay it forward".

When I make a few extra servings of a homemade dinner, I like to give them to my husband's co-workers who "live at the office".

I'll continue with my road side cleaning and old colleague visits in the spring.