Do Random Acts of Kindness Still Exist? Reflections this Thanksgiving Holiday
A THANKFUL Thanksgiving Holiday Message From A Heartfelt Source - Seriously... I Couldn't Make This Up! 🚘🦃🍂
HAPPY THANKSGIVING KIRC Fam!
Wishing you and yours a day with -hopefully- a bit of downtime and moments to consider the items in your lives you are able to be thankful for.
I am thankful for those of you who motivate and inspire me to keep writing and sharing.
I am thankful that for all the stress and strife of living the caregiver life, I was able to give my mother a safe, loving, and supportive final chapter.
I am thankful for continually evolving opportunities, and connections with visionary individuals dedicated to lifting up and helping others.
Kindness + Gratitude in Action
Because it is a holiday, I wasn’t planning on posting. But then, late Wednesday afternoon - Thanksgiving Eve - I got a phone call. It came from an unfamiliar number. I answered. And once I hung up from this brief chat, I realized I needed to share this moment. I’ll summarize:
Me: Hello, this is Julia - can I help you?
Ellen: Hi, Julia? I don’t know if you remember me, but this is Ellen? I’m the woman who was in the accident with her husband and you stopped to help?
Me: Ellen! Of course I remember you! How are you? How is your husband? Are both of you okay and did everything work out okay?
Ellen: We’re okay, but it has been incredibly stressful… but we’re okay. (pause) but, I was thinking about what I am thankful for even with so much going on, and I wanted to let you know how grateful I am for your help that day; taking the time to stop and help. Thank you.
We chatted only a few moments more but here is the incident which prompted the unexpected yet rather uplifting call.
The Scene
A few months ago, I was pulling out of a parking lot from a UPS shopping plaza when I saw a car stopped in the middle of the roadway - smack dab where others would be turning into the driveway from a rather busy road.
The front of the car was crumpled. I saw a woman in the drivers seat - a man, slumped over in the passenger seat. Both were older. The woman was on the phone. There was no one else around.
Instinct told me to pull around and ask if they needed help. As I got closer, I could see that the man was alert; he had only been laying his head on the dash. I could also see the front of the car was -um… WAY crumpled. It looked like someone either backed into them, or a side-swipe situation. There were no other cars around.
I immediately called 9-1-1 then went over to ask the woman if they were okay. The both were - for the most part. She said she was trying to get in touch with her tow service, her insurance, etc. She said Police had already been on scene to take reports, but the couple was still, for all practical purposes - stranded.
Random Acts of Kindness
Within this scene something amazing began unfolding. Another couple also saw this accident, and came over to lend a hand. Then another young woman walking by stopped and asked if there was anything she could do. Another woman also stopped and offered to make calls.
So there we all were - strangers - joining forces to assist this older couple. May I stress - complete strangers!
We all realized the location of the car could easily lead to yet another car turning in, hitting this couple, causing even more issues. I pulled my car around onto the sidewalk behind them with flashers on to alert other drivers.
‘Helping Couple #1’ helped walk the man into a nearby business to use the restroom.
‘Helping Woman #2’ helped the older woman walk over to a nearby eatery to order something warm for she and husband - it was clear the wait for a tow would be long.
‘Helping Woman #3’ walked a few blocks over to where she worked, then returned triumphantly carrying several orange traffic cones we could place behind the car.
Once we all realized how long the wait would be, and not wanting additional safety issues, we learned from the driver that she had crash markers in the trunk! She gave the approval to put the trunk up and we placed a bright red blanket over the back. We then set out reflective triangles along the roadway - clearly visible for others.
(I purchased a set for my vehicle shortly after this incident - wonderful idea!)
CARING for others - let’s Make America Kind Again
So you can imagine my surprise to receive this Thanksgiving eve phone call! Wow - it reminded me of all the different ways we can CARE for each other - when we choose to.
Ellen went on to tell me the recovery process has been tough. The car was totaled; they had to get another vehicle. Her husband had some minor injuries that were not obvious in the moment, but he’s okay. She said sifting through insurance and claims has been a nightmare.
BUT - and it’s a big BUT - she took the time and effort on Thanksgiving Eve to extend a heartfelt word of appreciation and kindness - to a stranger.
I didn’t stop that day because I wanted something - anything. I stopped because it was the right thing to do. I would hope that others would extend the same CARE for me if I needed it.
Thank YOU Ellen for reminding me that there is plenty of kindness in our world. Imagine if everyone stopped making ‘others’ the villains in our society and we simply CARED for each other… ? What a concept! 🤷🏽♀️
What random acts of kindness have you come across lately? Care to share?
*NOTE: If you have found anything helpful, information, inspirational, motivational, or otherwise beneficial in any way at all from the content here at KIRC, please consider supporting the work with a paid subscription - I would be wonderfully thankful!
Happy Thanksgiving all~
Julia