Random acts of kindness

Mark and I often just get in the truck and drive on Sundays when we have nothing going on. Yesterday was no exception. Mark wanted to go to Prairie to get bird seed - and I had to tell him the story of the Piggly Wiggly that chased me into the wrong lane of traffic. He thought I was completely on crack. "How could you do that? We have driven out of that lot one hundred times!" I had no defense of course. I think I said, "Well, I....I just - I - don't have a clue." That about sums that up.

As we were leaving Prairie, we passed an antique/thrift store and Mark wanted to go have a look. So we enter a side door and notice an older man and a younger man trying to move a couch out the front door. A cute little gray haired lady watched in anticipation as they moved her "new" couch. Mark and I had split off. I was smelling one of one hundred soy candles and he went off somewhere else. I then hear from behind me from the older man moving the couch say "Oh, I just can't do this..." I immediately hear Mark jump in and say "Oh, here - let me give you a hand with that!" Mark picks up the end of the couch and he and the younger man flip the couch over on its side, and whisked right out the door into the truck. The little old lady was clapping!

I was watching this from the side and it was kind of heart warming - these two little people thought Mark was such a hero for doing this for them. Mark does things like this all the time, I remembered in that moment. One time a lady lost her Christmas tree on the side of the road. It had been curiously tied to the top of the car. Mark pulled over and with his truck load of little fixer things was able to get it back on the car and secured tightly. (Its probably still there!)

He saw a dog get hit once on his way home from work and the car that hit it, kept on driving. Mark pulled over and picked up the dog and carried to the house that was right there. He was met by a woman who was horrified to see her dog this way. Mark helped her with him and eventually left. The following week we got a card in the mail with a long letter of kindness and thanks and $5.00.

I have countless stories like this. It reminds me that little acts of kindness can truly make the difference between a good day and bad day to someone else.

As we were leaving the store yesterday, I had decided on the candle that I wanted and when I got up to the counter to pay for it, the lady pointed at Mark and asked if he was my husband. When I said that he was, she slid the candle back to me and said, "Here, please take this! Thank you so much for the help, I am here alone today." I tried to argue it but she insisted that I have the candle.

So I thanked her and away we went. What a cool little stop that turned out to be!