Count your $20 Blessings

We happened to stop at the store the other night on our way home from getting a little exercise. It was a quick stop, we gathered the few items we were after, and went to the checkout. I wasn't aware of it, but it seems that the woman ahead of us in line was having a problem with her credit or debit card. It wouldn't approve her purchase of $14. 67, and she walked out of the store. As she was leaving my wife Susan noticed her pretty quick departure. We put our few items on the counter and the cashier said that she was sorry, but she needed a manager to cancel a transaction. My wife put 2 and 2 together and realized that the woman that had been ahead of us was not able to pay for her groceries. There they sat, bagged and ready to be taken home. We could see some if the items...a loaf of bread, peanut butter, some apples...pretty much the staples of a quick lunch or dinner. We offered to pay the bill...the only problem was that the woman had left the store and the sacks had nowhere to go. So the register was cleared, we payed for our things, and went out to our car.

Perhaps there is such a thing as divine intervention...or sheer coincidence. As I slid into the passenger seat and Susan the driver's seat, Susan noticed a family in the car beside us. Looking closer, she saw it was the woman who had left her groceries, unable to pay. Susan quickly took a $20 bill and walked over to the neighboring car window. We'd like to help pay for the groceries, she said. The woman objected at first, but slowly, and thankfully accepted. Inside the car with her were her four children, ranging in ages from toddler to high school. She opened the door and thanked Susan for her kindness. She broke into tears, sharing that her husband had left her, there was little money, and all she wanted was to buy some bread and groceries to feed her children.

The next time you see a $20 bill, count your numerous blessings. For some, $20 is a week's worth of coffee, or a few workday lunches. To others, it's a simple matter of survival, a full stomach for your children, and a windfall on a day when the winds seem destined to blow strongly against you. Count your $20 blessings. And if you're able, share your $20 blessings, like Susan.

Random Acts of Dancing

I had the pleasure to attend an Assistance League dinner/dance this past weekend. The Assistance League is a national nonprofit organization that puts caring and commitment into action through community-based philanthropic programs that benefit Youth programs (infants, children, and teens), Family programs (adult, family, and trauma victims), Senior programs and Cultural Enrichment programs. You can find more at http://www.assistanceleague.org/ps.programs.cfm?ID=19

Late in the evening the band was still playing, and only the true music lovers and die-hard dancers remained. One of those remaining happened to be a elderly woman (I’m not a great judge of age, but if she was under 85 I would be very surprised). There she stood, smartly dressed in a pale pink, lace-covered outfit, cane in hand to support her frail and somewhat hunched frame. She was perched on the edge of the dance floor watching the festivities, slowly and deliberately tapping her cane to the beat of the music. She was clearly enjoying the scene, the music, and the moment.

Out of the blue my friend Jack slowly walked over to this lovely, grey-haired woman and took her hand, asking her for this dance. Then he took her in his arms and carefully and gingerly started to slow dance with her. Jack held her lovingly and gently, and she smiled a smile that seemed to illuminate the crowd that was quickly gathering around them. Many cameras flashed, recording the moment as a touching personal memento of this Random Act of Dancing. As they danced, a few of the women, who appeared to be her family, clapped and smiled and watched, capturing the moment forever in their own hearts and minds.

After a minute, the dance was over. Like the clock striking midnight in Cinderella, Jack politely thanked this graceful woman for the honor of the dance and came back over to join us, followed a cacophony of cheering and applause from the crowd who had witnesses a magical moment on a small dance floor on a clear, bright evening in Texas.

Thousands of people spontaneously engage in random acts of kindness each day. You may have read the book, or visited the website http://www.actsofkindness.org/ .

For Jack, his random act of kindness was in the form of a simple dance for an elderly woman spectator. To Jack it meant but a moment in a life that has many more magical moments to come. For the elderly woman, it may have meant the world. Or at least the highlight of her day.

Who’s day will you brighten today? Tomorrow? Jack has inspired me to take the step as well. What will be my random act of kindness today? I'll let you know tomorrow. Will you let me know what random act inspired you?

Rex