Kindness in Competition

December 5th

Yesterday my sisters and I participated in A Christmas Story Run in Cleveland and I witnessed a lot of kindness. There was a gentleman who stood on his balcony and wished all the runners a Merry Christmas and cheered us on as we completed the last stretch of our run.

One of my sisters had surgery on her knee and has not been cleared to run. She has run A Christmas Story Run every year since it started 3 years ago. She decided she would still do it but walk instead. Every year the race runs out of medals so my other sister and I had to run in order to ensure we would receive one. So when we were finished, we went back to walk with her and finish all together.

 

After the race, as we were walking back toward the buses we noticed how many runners were falling and almost hitting their faces on the asphalt over a bump in the road so we stayed to warn people prior to crossing it.

 

 

 

As runners were waiting in line to get on the bus to shuttle us back to our cars, our line noticed a four month old baby waiting in back. It was 30 degrees and windy so the line let the baby on first. Then when there wasn't space or the stroller, a woman volunteered to move in order to get the stroller on. We also let the baby off first.

 





December 6th

My mom, sister, and I went to cheer on my other sister and brother in law at a cyclocross race this morning. They seemed to appreciate our support and I brought a smile to my sisters face as I quoted lines from A Christmas Story to cheer her on. I heard competitors congratulate each other on a good race when they finished. A good Samaritan brought a huge smile to my face when I lost my phone at the race. I looked everywhere! I even searched through a trash can in case I accidently threw it out with my trash. Then I heard the announcer announce someone had turned in a cell phone that was found in the parking lot. Thank you good Samaritan!! You definitely made my day!!

Who did you make smile today?

Why sit around and wait for a miracle to come when we can be one?

It's been a while so I will start with as many Random Acts of Kindness as I can remember from the past few months!

-A random stranger stopped and helped a friend of mine change her tire as she waited for AAA. Then she no longer needed AAA.

-My grandmother came to stay with my sister after her surgery so I could go back to work

-My sister sent my grandmother flowers for helping her so much

-My sister paid for the car behind us in the Starbucks drive thru

-Friends invited my dad over for Thanksgiving dinner when they realized he would be alone for the holiday

-A friend of mine worried a lot of people when he was having a rough time in his life. He left some worrisome messages and then we lost contact with him. When police located his car, 20 of us traveled 90 min to join the search. Thankfully he was ok, but it's great how a community can come together so fast in a time of need and it meant a lot to my friend to know that so many people cared about him

-High School students went to bring feed the Ronald McDonald House at Riley Hospital for Children

-My church is in the process of getting a comfort dog. The woman in charge has taken on a huge role by organizing this ministry and is doing an amazing job. I have always wanted to be apart of something like this and I'm thankful we have her to take on this project.

-For my job, I take a little girl with medical needs to school. When walking in, I have my hands full as I am holding her hand and carrying an overstuffed book bag with her medical supplies and a suction machine. While trying to open the door, there have several instances where children have run up a head of us to open the door for me. Sweet kids!

-Last night I had minimal time to get home and eat before heading to a concert. My sister knowing I'd be short on time, let the dogs out for me before I got home. When we got home, she also fed the dogs.

-Yesterday my sister and I also decided to split the cost of sponsoring a child in Malawi. Last week I was talking with the mother of one of my patients about the differences between the United States and her home country. She was explaining how it's difficult for her to understand this countries culture of entitlement. In her home country, her family has enough to survive. In this country, everything is a "want" and not a "need" and we have a hard time realizing the difference between the two. Last night, we heard more stories other cultures fighting for necessities to survive. They travel two hours by foot to a watering hole. Once there, they actually physically fight each other to get water for their families because if they don't their loved ones will go without. This is all for 5 gallons of water. 5 GALLONS for an entire family. We use 5 gallons of water per minute when we shower. Between my discussion with the mother last week and learning a more in depth perspective of these hardships, I really felt moved to cut my own expenses in order to make sure a child with nothing has a better chance of survival. We were assigned a boy named Angelo and I will keep you posted on his progress!

 

 

Who did you make smile today?