I have to express my gratitude to two kind women. Small acts of caring made a big difference in my life and I use them as touchstones. They remind me that spontaneous acts of generosity that may seem insignificant in the eyes of the world can change so much for the recipient. Here is the story of two small events in the life of a child.
The first event took place when I was five. I was a very lonely person. Mom was an alcoholic and in no position to be nurturing. I was pretty much left to fend for myself, which made me pretty independent. Every day I would walk to school and back home again by myself. One day a scary thing happened. I was stung by a bee.
I had never been stung before and didn’t know what had happened. It hurt and I was alone and was shuffling along, crying, when all of a sudden a woman came out of her house. She came over to me, put her arms around me and asked what had happened. I told her about my hurt. Somehow, she understood and took me into her home.
In her kitchen, she lifted me up and gently placed me on her kitchen counter. She took a look at the bee sting to see if there was still a stinger. There wasn’t, but she cleaned the area anyway. Then she offered me a piece of chocolate cake and a glass of milk. When I finished, she walked me back to the sidewalk so I could continue on my way. That memory has stayed with me for seventy years. Just thinking about it makes me cry. For her, it was a matter-of-fact adult reaction to seeing a crying child. What was a few minutes out of her day, a glass of milk, and a piece of cake? For me, it showed that a very simple act of kindness can resonate with a child for years.
The only other act of kindness I remember from when I was a child was when the next-door neighbor would invite me over to have milk toast. I was usually home during the day taking care of my little brother. When he napped, I would go and visit her. She would cut buttered toast into strips so I could dunk them in a glass of milk. I can still taste that toast. We would talk, and although I could never tell her why I was home during the day, I think she knew.
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