Remembering Kindness

A fun memory from 2009.  It was a white elephant gift for Derek
gave to me :-)

How far back can you remember someone being kind to you?  I was just thinking that I can remember a lot of people being kind throughout the years, and all of these years later I feel grateful for every kindness I remember.  Remembering these things helps me to be thankful for all of the good people I have come across in my life.  It also encourages me to remember to be kind myself.

Here are a few of the things I remember.  I remember getting up to find my Mom in the kitchen making breakfast and greeting me with a good morning.   When we moved to Kentucky, I can remember her sitting by me when I cried because I was homesick and assuring me that things would get better.  I remember the hug goodbye from my 3rd grade teacher before we moved, and the kindness of a girl named Wendy when I was panicking because we had to change classes and I'd never done that before.

In yet another new school my 6th grade teacher would talk to me at recess when I had nobody to play with.  In a new school in 9th grade I was greeted immediately upon entering the school by someone who welcomed me and said she would be my friend -- and she was.  Two friends from church helped me my senior year when I went to a new high school and was feeling completely lost and alone.  They showed up every hour and made sure I knew where to go.

My sisters would let me lay my head in their laps when I was feeling so down I couldn't quit crying, and my older sister sent me a flower at school at least once for Valentine's day.  My brothers and sisters were my friends through all of the ups and downs of growing up, and are still my friends.

I remember someone smiling at me when I was having a hard day in college, and a stranger at BYU walking with me to class and talking to me -- easing the loneliness I was feeling at the time. 

These things don't even scratch the surface, and don't even get me to halfway through my life!  Every good thing someone has done or said has made good times better, helped to get me through hard times, and has helped me become the person that I am.  I'm sure that I could look back and remember things that aren't as happy, but I like to focus on remembering kindness.