I love my mother dearly. She is elderly and lives in an assisted living apartment a few miles from my home. Most Sundays I bring her to my place for an afternoon visit. She has told me she enjoys the drive and the change from her usual routine and surroundings, and she especially likes to see and pet my cat. Although my mother is able to walk with a walker, for longer distances we use a wheelchair. Today as I was pushing the wheelchair toward the front door of the apartment building where I live, there was a mom, dad, and little girl coming out of the building. When they saw us they made of point of waiting so they could hold the entrance door open for us, and we thanked them. Then, after our visit when we were leaving to take Mom back to her place, a young man who was outside saw us coming and quickly walked to the door to be there in time to open it for us, and again we said thank you.
It’s special to see and be the recipients of such acts of kindness. They are day brighteners. Often we see or read about incidents where people hurt each other, ranging from violent acts to being inconsiderate. But the thoughtfulness demonstrated by the people today shows that caring for others definitely exists. I sometimes get frustrated when I’m walking and in a hurry and someone cuts in front of me or people are walking slowly in the middle of the sidewalk looking at their phone instead of staying to the side. Although some people’s behavior shows them to be selfish and/or impolite, others appear to be oblivious of their surroundings. In a way, being oblivious is a form of selfishness too. The helpfulness of the people toward my mother and me today, however, proves that “random acts of kindness” are alive and well, I’m happy to say.