Several of my classmates and I took a walk to Shafer. While many of us had no swipes left, three of us had extra swipes and we saw that they were selling one large pizza and a two liter of soda for 2 swipes. A fellow classmate and I swiped for two pizzas and two 2L sodas. A third classmate swiped for 6 pieces of cheese cake.
We had decided that we were all going to go to Monroe Park to distribute the pizza and the soda to the homeless people in the park. I was too nervous, because I didn't want to mistake someone for being homeless when really they were not. So I stayed back, while a friend handed out the pizza for me. Afterward, we all went to the University commons to eat the cheesecake that a classmate had swiped for us. It was very generous of him to do so. That's six swipes! And he only got ONE piece! And it was goooood cheese cake. I was very thankful for that.
We are planning on doing the same thing someday soon.
Christiane M.
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I swiped a man named Todd, into Shafer. He was hungry, it needed to be done. Enjoy your Christmas this year.
Amin C.
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I lied to my parents saying I'm coming home on Friday but I'm really going home tomorrow and surprising them at the door. It’s been awhile since I've been home in California, and I can't wait to see how excited they are to see me. I hope you have a merry Christmas and that you and your family will have a relaxing time off. See you next semester!
Christine C.
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Today as a group instead of wasting the swipes that we have left. We used it to buy 2 boxes of pizza and soda and gave it to the homeless people at Monroe Park.
Phi N.
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I gave a homeless man a Dunkin-Donuts breakfast the other day on the way to work. I figured sine it's my favorite breakfast, I could get another one for someone else to enjoy. Hope all is well with you and your family, and Happy Holidays!
Best,
Ashley P.
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A group of us from FI bought a couple of pizzas and 2 liter sodas from 810 to go and handed it out to the homeless people in Monroe park. this act of kindness made me feel so good that i wanted to cry and i want to do it again soon because the looks on their faces and how thankful they are is just priceless! God has blessed me so much that I want to bless those who are less fortunate.
Justina A.
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I recently brought some food for Christmas baskets to give to the less fortunate for the holidays. This was my random act of kindness.
A’ishah A.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
December 22
I was Christmas shopping and popped into the Dollar Tree to buy some gift bags. I was running late, in a rush, tired, and hungry. I passed a mother berating her little girl for whining on the way in. The store was PACKED with financially stressed, rushed people--many agonizing over their choices. The manager was on the phone negotiating scheduling and the another employee was on another phone with a customer. One lone clerk was running one lone register. He was about 17 and was moving as fast as he could and being mostly patient with the befuddled elderly counting their pennies, the immigrant couple speaking to him and each other in 2 languages, and various rushed people who wanted to get home to dinner. The line just kept getting longer. When I got up to the counter, I took a minute to say, "You're doing a really great job. Is it always this crowded in here?" He paused for a moment, replied, and smiled. The woman behind me in line grinned a big Christmas grin. I want to dedicate this moment in the midst of shopping madness to Theo.
Merry Christmas!
Melissa J.
**********************************************************************************
Having just cashed a check at Bank of America for a reading I had done at Towson University, I was walking along Grace Street near Harrison. As I was heading to Ipanema for a $2 glass of red wine at "happy hour," I looked down and through the darkening evening I saw a leather woman's wallet. I picked it up and went inside to examine the contents.
It contained a credit card, license, medical card, work ID for a tutoring agency, and the usual Kroger and Ukrop's cards: no telephone number, no email address. I left the bar without a having my celebratory glass of wine and went to the library to review the contents again under greater light and to do some Googling (not at the co-eds) to see whether I could learn how I might contact this woman, Daniela, before she cancelled everything and went through the expense and trouble of obtaining new cards, etc.
I found that she was a member of an Italian organization and was a speaker of Italian. (There was no telling whether she was a Berlusconi fan or not.) I found an email address through the organization's Website and through my Google account sent her an email with my VCU account address and who I was. I attempted to reassure her that I was not a bigger Bozo than I am, so that she would feel comfortable contacting me to retrieve her property. After sending the email, I thought there was nothing else for me to do but wait, and so I started out for that glass of red that by this time I thought I had earned.
When I rounded the bend onto Grace Street, I saw a woman walking in from of me with her head down and who entered Ipanema. As I was entering, she was then exiting. I wasn't certain but there was a resemblance to the license photo. She looked up, and I asked, "Is your name Daniela?" She replied, "Yes." I pulled the wallet out of my jacket pocket, and she looked at it and smiled. She told me that I was a "kind man" as though a kind man was a rare kind of man. She left with her wallet, and I went in and finally sipped a glorious glass of cheap red wine. As a bonus, I could think: "What good boy am I."
I am not certain she ever got my email because I haven't heard from her on either of my accounts. My vanity had me thinking that I might receive one more, more thoughtful thank you via the internet. Perhaps my attempt at reassuring her that I wasn't a bigger Bozo than I am, merely confirmed that I am a bigger one than I think.
Rich M.
Merry Christmas!
Melissa J.
**********************************************************************************
Having just cashed a check at Bank of America for a reading I had done at Towson University, I was walking along Grace Street near Harrison. As I was heading to Ipanema for a $2 glass of red wine at "happy hour," I looked down and through the darkening evening I saw a leather woman's wallet. I picked it up and went inside to examine the contents.
It contained a credit card, license, medical card, work ID for a tutoring agency, and the usual Kroger and Ukrop's cards: no telephone number, no email address. I left the bar without a having my celebratory glass of wine and went to the library to review the contents again under greater light and to do some Googling (not at the co-eds) to see whether I could learn how I might contact this woman, Daniela, before she cancelled everything and went through the expense and trouble of obtaining new cards, etc.
I found that she was a member of an Italian organization and was a speaker of Italian. (There was no telling whether she was a Berlusconi fan or not.) I found an email address through the organization's Website and through my Google account sent her an email with my VCU account address and who I was. I attempted to reassure her that I was not a bigger Bozo than I am, so that she would feel comfortable contacting me to retrieve her property. After sending the email, I thought there was nothing else for me to do but wait, and so I started out for that glass of red that by this time I thought I had earned.
When I rounded the bend onto Grace Street, I saw a woman walking in from of me with her head down and who entered Ipanema. As I was entering, she was then exiting. I wasn't certain but there was a resemblance to the license photo. She looked up, and I asked, "Is your name Daniela?" She replied, "Yes." I pulled the wallet out of my jacket pocket, and she looked at it and smiled. She told me that I was a "kind man" as though a kind man was a rare kind of man. She left with her wallet, and I went in and finally sipped a glorious glass of cheap red wine. As a bonus, I could think: "What good boy am I."
I am not certain she ever got my email because I haven't heard from her on either of my accounts. My vanity had me thinking that I might receive one more, more thoughtful thank you via the internet. Perhaps my attempt at reassuring her that I wasn't a bigger Bozo than I am, merely confirmed that I am a bigger one than I think.
Rich M.
Monday, November 30, 2009
First Post of This Holiday Season
We felt it was time to open up Theo's stocking for this 2009 Holiday Season. I did some color changes and font changes, but have had a hard time coming up with what to say for an opening post. I have felt very sad lately. I wish I could say that things are great, we are incredibly happy, we are full of gratitude, and all that. And it is true--much of that is true. We are happy. We have a lovely home, food to eat, access to clean water, heat, electricity, transportation, clothes to wear, jobs, family, and friends who love us. Our Lula is absolutely beautiful. She is funny, exuberant, full of life, sweet, and she brings joy wherever she goes. But all that we have, and Lula's joyous presence, does not change the sadness in our hearts that our first born child is not here to share in all our many blessings. Or that Lula will never know her brother in this life.
Sometimes it is hard to hold those two sorts of feelings together in the same space of a heart. Joy next to pain, happiness alongside grief. But it happens in my heart all the time. My friend Kara wrote about that very thing in her blog. She beautifully captured the difficult feelings of a bereaved parent who may have much to be grateful for in life, but who also continues to experience deep sadness and pain, and often, resentment and guilt. For the bereaved, those painful feelings often sit side by side with gratitude and appreciation for so much that is good in our lives. Read Kara's thoughts at KotaPress here.
The holiday season is difficult to say the least. Happiness for Lula's presence and the joy of her infectious excitement, as well as genuine gratitude for all the blessings we have, exist alongside the heavy sadness and grief we perpetually carry--and which is particularly poignant at this time of year. The holidays are just hard. The holidays are always and will always be hard. We will forever be missing Theo. This stocking project stems from the awful pain of our first Christmas without Theo. I won't go into the whole story of Theo's stocking here. Most of you reading will already know the story. If you do not know the whole story, please go to the archives here and read backwards from the first post, where I explain how and why we decided to do Theo's Christmas Stocking Project.
Mostly, we do this now because it gives us a means by which to concsiously engage in acts that will honor our son and his life and to demonstrate to others how much he is a presence in our family's life. We do it so that other people will think of him and remember his sweet face, his peaceful energy, his short, but brave and beautiful life. The biggest fear of a bereaved parent is that someday, other people will forget our children. How special, how brave, how beautiful, how important they were...and still are. In committing acts of kindness for others and dedicating those acts to Theo--to his memory, his life--we help to ensure that his spirit, which was so loving, giving and gentle, will continue on through us. Through us, he continues to touch others. Through you, he can continue to touch others. When you commit your acts of kindness, please think of him, send him a thought, a prayer, a wish, and think too, of those you love who have died. Commit your acts of kindness in memory of Theo as well as in memory and honor of those you love who have died.
I wish that we were a culture who could openly live with our dead. A culture which celebrates those we love who have died. A culture that openly talks about them and honors them throughout the year. I wish we had an equivalent of Mexico's Day of the Dead, Dia de los Muertos, where we could spend the day in celebration and honor of the lives of those we love who have died. A day to spend time teaching family about those who have died, the recently dead as well as ancestors, so that we could keep their memories alive and part of the life of the family. Dia de los Angelitos is a special day to remember and celebrate and mourn children who have died. I wish we had such a day in our own culture. There are many bereaved parents who would weep with gratitude at an opportunity to talk about and remember and celebrate publicly the lives of their children who have died. That we can celebrate and mourn at the same time is a very hard concept for our culture. But it can be done. It would be an easier thing if we were not such a death denying culture.
People like me know that the pain does not go away, we merely learn to manage it--but it can be done in such a way that we can also be happy people. We can lead productive, useful, happy lives, we can know joy, we can laugh and have fun. But there is nothing that ever makes it better that my son is dead. That never gets better. It will also never change. I do what I can to help other people know that they can manage this kind of devastating pain, that they can live again; and that they can continue to celebrate, remember, honor, and make a place in their family for their child who has died. I never plan to say goodbye or "move on". There is no "getting over it." I move forward in my life and I take Theo with me. The pain also goes with me, but so does the love and the joy, and the knowledge that I am forever his mother. Nothing will change that.
This special Christmas Stocking blog is one of the ways we continue to keep him and his memory alive in our hearts and his spirit moving through the world.
We will be honored if you will participate with us and commit random acts of kindness throughout this Christmas and Holiday season. Please share with us your stories of kindness and, if you wish, the stories of the people you love and miss and in whose names you commit your kindnesses. Helen Keller said "What we have enjoyed and deeply loved, we can never lose, for all that we love deeply becomes a part of us."
We will also post here the kindnesses we commit in Theo's memory. Check back often to read ours and other people's stories of kindness.
Love to all--
Karla
Sometimes it is hard to hold those two sorts of feelings together in the same space of a heart. Joy next to pain, happiness alongside grief. But it happens in my heart all the time. My friend Kara wrote about that very thing in her blog. She beautifully captured the difficult feelings of a bereaved parent who may have much to be grateful for in life, but who also continues to experience deep sadness and pain, and often, resentment and guilt. For the bereaved, those painful feelings often sit side by side with gratitude and appreciation for so much that is good in our lives. Read Kara's thoughts at KotaPress here.
The holiday season is difficult to say the least. Happiness for Lula's presence and the joy of her infectious excitement, as well as genuine gratitude for all the blessings we have, exist alongside the heavy sadness and grief we perpetually carry--and which is particularly poignant at this time of year. The holidays are just hard. The holidays are always and will always be hard. We will forever be missing Theo. This stocking project stems from the awful pain of our first Christmas without Theo. I won't go into the whole story of Theo's stocking here. Most of you reading will already know the story. If you do not know the whole story, please go to the archives here and read backwards from the first post, where I explain how and why we decided to do Theo's Christmas Stocking Project.
Mostly, we do this now because it gives us a means by which to concsiously engage in acts that will honor our son and his life and to demonstrate to others how much he is a presence in our family's life. We do it so that other people will think of him and remember his sweet face, his peaceful energy, his short, but brave and beautiful life. The biggest fear of a bereaved parent is that someday, other people will forget our children. How special, how brave, how beautiful, how important they were...and still are. In committing acts of kindness for others and dedicating those acts to Theo--to his memory, his life--we help to ensure that his spirit, which was so loving, giving and gentle, will continue on through us. Through us, he continues to touch others. Through you, he can continue to touch others. When you commit your acts of kindness, please think of him, send him a thought, a prayer, a wish, and think too, of those you love who have died. Commit your acts of kindness in memory of Theo as well as in memory and honor of those you love who have died.
I wish that we were a culture who could openly live with our dead. A culture which celebrates those we love who have died. A culture that openly talks about them and honors them throughout the year. I wish we had an equivalent of Mexico's Day of the Dead, Dia de los Muertos, where we could spend the day in celebration and honor of the lives of those we love who have died. A day to spend time teaching family about those who have died, the recently dead as well as ancestors, so that we could keep their memories alive and part of the life of the family. Dia de los Angelitos is a special day to remember and celebrate and mourn children who have died. I wish we had such a day in our own culture. There are many bereaved parents who would weep with gratitude at an opportunity to talk about and remember and celebrate publicly the lives of their children who have died. That we can celebrate and mourn at the same time is a very hard concept for our culture. But it can be done. It would be an easier thing if we were not such a death denying culture.
People like me know that the pain does not go away, we merely learn to manage it--but it can be done in such a way that we can also be happy people. We can lead productive, useful, happy lives, we can know joy, we can laugh and have fun. But there is nothing that ever makes it better that my son is dead. That never gets better. It will also never change. I do what I can to help other people know that they can manage this kind of devastating pain, that they can live again; and that they can continue to celebrate, remember, honor, and make a place in their family for their child who has died. I never plan to say goodbye or "move on". There is no "getting over it." I move forward in my life and I take Theo with me. The pain also goes with me, but so does the love and the joy, and the knowledge that I am forever his mother. Nothing will change that.
This special Christmas Stocking blog is one of the ways we continue to keep him and his memory alive in our hearts and his spirit moving through the world.
We will be honored if you will participate with us and commit random acts of kindness throughout this Christmas and Holiday season. Please share with us your stories of kindness and, if you wish, the stories of the people you love and miss and in whose names you commit your kindnesses. Helen Keller said "What we have enjoyed and deeply loved, we can never lose, for all that we love deeply becomes a part of us."
We will also post here the kindnesses we commit in Theo's memory. Check back often to read ours and other people's stories of kindness.
Love to all--
Karla
Friday, January 9, 2009
New Year Message of Thanks and Reflection
Happy New Year to all—I hope that your holiday was peaceful and bright. I wish to express our heartfelt gratitude to all of you who participated in Theo’s stocking this year. We had so m any wonderful contributions whose lasting effects will continue to extend far beyond this blog.
I recognize that the initial motivation to begin Theo’s Stocking was purely selfish. As my dear friend Joanne Cacciatore has reminded me in the past, “Grief is narcissistic”. And it is. One’s grief, my grief, feels purely mine. The narcissism of grief is that which causes a bereaved person to feel as though she is all alone, that he is all alone, that no one has ever felt this kind of pain, this deep a loss, this profound a sadness. No one else can possibly understand or know the depth and breadth of your loss. And it is true, no one can and never truly will. Your grief is yours alone. My grief is mine. Even others who have lost a child, who also know the searing and lasting pain that comes with the death of a beloved child, cannot know the particulars of my grief. We can support each other but we cannot truly know the daily reality of another person’s loss. So we are alone in many ways—and in so many others we are not. It is in remembering the ways in which we are not alone that can save us from total emotional devastation.
In sharing Theo’s stocking with, potentially, the whole world I think we have taken a very healing step. Before I wrote that, I thought about saying, “a step toward wholeness”, but I cannot honestly say that. We will never be truly whole again. And that is just the way it is. That is not a statement about a refusal to “get better” or an attempt to to hold on to pain or grief. It’s just the way it is. There is no getting around the fact that a cherished member of our family will always be missing from our lives.
When you lose a child, you lose all the potentiality that child brings into the world. We miss out on all the significant milestones—walking, talking, playing, the first day of school, proms, graduation, weddings, mistakes, victories. We also miss out on relationships with all the other people Theo would have brought into our life—his friends, his spouse, his children. All that is missing is painfully obvious on a daily basis, but most glaringly at holidays and special times—his birthday, the anniversary of his death, Mother’s Days, Father’s Days. Healing from the pain of grief can occur, but the invisible scars are always there—and like a lot of injuries, sometimes they ache, sometimes those wounds can be downright excruciating. As time goes on, it gets easier to navigate through life with a piece of your heart missing—you learn how to cope, how to manage it. Almost three years after his death, it feels very, very different than it did the first year. But it still hurts. Soemtimes it hurts more than other times. Sometimes I cry. I still think of Theo every single day. There will never come a day that I do not think of my son. He is always in my heart. He is always in Jamie’s heart.
This Christmas was really wonderful—it was Lula’s first Christmas and even though she didn’t really get that it was Christmas, she had a great time and she is just such a joy every day. Jamie says it was the best Christmas he ever had—because he spent it with Lula and with me. But it was also very hard, because it was Lula’s first Christmas and no matter how much I love her, I couldn’t help but be reminded that Theo never had that magical, beautifiul first Christmas filled with joy and wonder and laughter. His first and only Christmas we spent saddened beyond belief, knowing that we would not have a next Christmas with him. It was a peaceful holiday, we were together, but we were so heavy-hearted. A bit of that sadness stays with us and will for all Christmases to come. It may get a bit easier each year—but it is still there.
Sharing Theo’s Stocking with all of you and all of you willing to share not only with us this year, but with anyone reading, has been a beautiful part of our healing process. The sharing of all the contributions this year has felt like uncurling just a tiny bit more from the tiny ball that grief can turns us into. It can feel like a tight, tiny ball that is very dense—very dense and full of the pain of loss. It is very hard to unfurl something that tight and closed. I think Anais Nin said, “And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom”. Opening from the pain of grief might take a long time. It can be very scary. Even small movements, small openings can cause us to feel very vulnerable.
I appreciate so very much the words of encouragment, the assurance from so many of you that thoughts and memories of Theo continue on in your hearts and your actions. I also cherish the thought of these Acts of Kindness having a kind of ripple effect across the world, even across the Universe. In releasing some of the narcissism of grief—instead of holding on to the Acts of Kindness done in Theo’s honor, just for ourselves—in sharing them with potentially the whole world—we have allowed these acts to have a much farther reaching. Placing this blog and asking you all to contribute created the first ripple, each contribution, each email we received, each story, eact act of giving, of kindness, of love, of selflessness, created the next ripple and then the next and the next, on and on. Beyond that, each of you who read the stories took them into your own hearts and in doing so were changed by them. Possibly you were moved to tears, perhaps motivated to be more aware of your own actions and how they impact others, maybe you continued to engage in acts of kindness for your own reasons, beyond Theo’s Stocking, to help others—more ripples. Each person who benefitted from your kind acts, kind thoughts, your smile, your love, may have then created his or her own ripples. This is one more piece of evidence that we are all connected, even when it feels like we aren’t.
My wish is that the blooming and the ripples will continue onward and outward, as energy always does, spurred on by the most pure motive of love. For me, the knowledge that at the heart of it all is the pure love of my sweet baby Theo, brings peace and comfort and seems fitting with who he was, is, and will always be—a beautiful, powerful soul, who in the in the body of a tiny baby present for such a short time here on earth, touched the lives of so very many. May he continue to do so and to be present with us all through love which is stronger than death.
Jamie and Lula and I wish you all a happy and peaceful 2009.
I recognize that the initial motivation to begin Theo’s Stocking was purely selfish. As my dear friend Joanne Cacciatore has reminded me in the past, “Grief is narcissistic”. And it is. One’s grief, my grief, feels purely mine. The narcissism of grief is that which causes a bereaved person to feel as though she is all alone, that he is all alone, that no one has ever felt this kind of pain, this deep a loss, this profound a sadness. No one else can possibly understand or know the depth and breadth of your loss. And it is true, no one can and never truly will. Your grief is yours alone. My grief is mine. Even others who have lost a child, who also know the searing and lasting pain that comes with the death of a beloved child, cannot know the particulars of my grief. We can support each other but we cannot truly know the daily reality of another person’s loss. So we are alone in many ways—and in so many others we are not. It is in remembering the ways in which we are not alone that can save us from total emotional devastation.
In sharing Theo’s stocking with, potentially, the whole world I think we have taken a very healing step. Before I wrote that, I thought about saying, “a step toward wholeness”, but I cannot honestly say that. We will never be truly whole again. And that is just the way it is. That is not a statement about a refusal to “get better” or an attempt to to hold on to pain or grief. It’s just the way it is. There is no getting around the fact that a cherished member of our family will always be missing from our lives.
When you lose a child, you lose all the potentiality that child brings into the world. We miss out on all the significant milestones—walking, talking, playing, the first day of school, proms, graduation, weddings, mistakes, victories. We also miss out on relationships with all the other people Theo would have brought into our life—his friends, his spouse, his children. All that is missing is painfully obvious on a daily basis, but most glaringly at holidays and special times—his birthday, the anniversary of his death, Mother’s Days, Father’s Days. Healing from the pain of grief can occur, but the invisible scars are always there—and like a lot of injuries, sometimes they ache, sometimes those wounds can be downright excruciating. As time goes on, it gets easier to navigate through life with a piece of your heart missing—you learn how to cope, how to manage it. Almost three years after his death, it feels very, very different than it did the first year. But it still hurts. Soemtimes it hurts more than other times. Sometimes I cry. I still think of Theo every single day. There will never come a day that I do not think of my son. He is always in my heart. He is always in Jamie’s heart.
This Christmas was really wonderful—it was Lula’s first Christmas and even though she didn’t really get that it was Christmas, she had a great time and she is just such a joy every day. Jamie says it was the best Christmas he ever had—because he spent it with Lula and with me. But it was also very hard, because it was Lula’s first Christmas and no matter how much I love her, I couldn’t help but be reminded that Theo never had that magical, beautifiul first Christmas filled with joy and wonder and laughter. His first and only Christmas we spent saddened beyond belief, knowing that we would not have a next Christmas with him. It was a peaceful holiday, we were together, but we were so heavy-hearted. A bit of that sadness stays with us and will for all Christmases to come. It may get a bit easier each year—but it is still there.
Sharing Theo’s Stocking with all of you and all of you willing to share not only with us this year, but with anyone reading, has been a beautiful part of our healing process. The sharing of all the contributions this year has felt like uncurling just a tiny bit more from the tiny ball that grief can turns us into. It can feel like a tight, tiny ball that is very dense—very dense and full of the pain of loss. It is very hard to unfurl something that tight and closed. I think Anais Nin said, “And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom”. Opening from the pain of grief might take a long time. It can be very scary. Even small movements, small openings can cause us to feel very vulnerable.
I appreciate so very much the words of encouragment, the assurance from so many of you that thoughts and memories of Theo continue on in your hearts and your actions. I also cherish the thought of these Acts of Kindness having a kind of ripple effect across the world, even across the Universe. In releasing some of the narcissism of grief—instead of holding on to the Acts of Kindness done in Theo’s honor, just for ourselves—in sharing them with potentially the whole world—we have allowed these acts to have a much farther reaching. Placing this blog and asking you all to contribute created the first ripple, each contribution, each email we received, each story, eact act of giving, of kindness, of love, of selflessness, created the next ripple and then the next and the next, on and on. Beyond that, each of you who read the stories took them into your own hearts and in doing so were changed by them. Possibly you were moved to tears, perhaps motivated to be more aware of your own actions and how they impact others, maybe you continued to engage in acts of kindness for your own reasons, beyond Theo’s Stocking, to help others—more ripples. Each person who benefitted from your kind acts, kind thoughts, your smile, your love, may have then created his or her own ripples. This is one more piece of evidence that we are all connected, even when it feels like we aren’t.
My wish is that the blooming and the ripples will continue onward and outward, as energy always does, spurred on by the most pure motive of love. For me, the knowledge that at the heart of it all is the pure love of my sweet baby Theo, brings peace and comfort and seems fitting with who he was, is, and will always be—a beautiful, powerful soul, who in the in the body of a tiny baby present for such a short time here on earth, touched the lives of so very many. May he continue to do so and to be present with us all through love which is stronger than death.
Jamie and Lula and I wish you all a happy and peaceful 2009.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
More Kindnesses
From Stan:
I did do something, and though it did involve money, I think it was important and the right thing to do. For the past few weeks I have been reading almost daily in our local newspaper how food banks are in dire need of food to give to people requiring help. So on Monday, Dec. 22nd, I went to Sam's Club and bought $275 worth of food (flour, rice, pasta, canned meats, sugar, coffee, etc.) and delivered it to Martha for The Homeless. Martha is an elderly African-American woman who has been running a food bank out of her garage for several years - with the blessing of the City and State. I had called her the week before to see what she might need - and she gave me a list (long) of basic items. Well . . . I did the best I could and I know it was a help.
I decided that I really, really don't need to load up friends and neighbors with more material goods, not when there are people hungry for the basics. I also don't really need another sweater - a book, maybe, but sweaters and gadgets - no. It felt good to do this and next week I plan on going through our pantry and freezer and making another donation. I did not take a tax form from her - I don't itemize anyway - and this is not something I would deduct. It is NOT charity - it is concern for those around me who have a need I can do a little bit to assuage.
When you really get down to it, all we have is each other. Merry Christmas to ALL.
From Jessica G:
I had the chance to see something very beautiful a few days ago while out shopping for those last few gifts for Christmas this year. My dad and I were in the car on our way to Target. Traffic was ridiculous. All of a sudden, a truck broke down several cars in front of us and had the intersection completely blocked. I expected to hear a chorus of honking horns and angry shouts from the busy shoppers rushing to finish their errands, but instead, people came from all kinds of cars to help this elderly gentleman push his truck out of the intersection, into a gas station parking lot to get repaired. Even a homeless gentleman, sitting with a sign on the street corner, jumped up and ran to help out. It was a magical moment. It really exemplified the true Spirit of Christmas.
I pray you and your beautiful family have a wonderful Christmas with many more to come! Thank you very much for including me in your wonderful tradition! I know Theo's watching.
I did do something, and though it did involve money, I think it was important and the right thing to do. For the past few weeks I have been reading almost daily in our local newspaper how food banks are in dire need of food to give to people requiring help. So on Monday, Dec. 22nd, I went to Sam's Club and bought $275 worth of food (flour, rice, pasta, canned meats, sugar, coffee, etc.) and delivered it to Martha for The Homeless. Martha is an elderly African-American woman who has been running a food bank out of her garage for several years - with the blessing of the City and State. I had called her the week before to see what she might need - and she gave me a list (long) of basic items. Well . . . I did the best I could and I know it was a help.
I decided that I really, really don't need to load up friends and neighbors with more material goods, not when there are people hungry for the basics. I also don't really need another sweater - a book, maybe, but sweaters and gadgets - no. It felt good to do this and next week I plan on going through our pantry and freezer and making another donation. I did not take a tax form from her - I don't itemize anyway - and this is not something I would deduct. It is NOT charity - it is concern for those around me who have a need I can do a little bit to assuage.
When you really get down to it, all we have is each other. Merry Christmas to ALL.
From Jessica G:
I had the chance to see something very beautiful a few days ago while out shopping for those last few gifts for Christmas this year. My dad and I were in the car on our way to Target. Traffic was ridiculous. All of a sudden, a truck broke down several cars in front of us and had the intersection completely blocked. I expected to hear a chorus of honking horns and angry shouts from the busy shoppers rushing to finish their errands, but instead, people came from all kinds of cars to help this elderly gentleman push his truck out of the intersection, into a gas station parking lot to get repaired. Even a homeless gentleman, sitting with a sign on the street corner, jumped up and ran to help out. It was a magical moment. It really exemplified the true Spirit of Christmas.
I pray you and your beautiful family have a wonderful Christmas with many more to come! Thank you very much for including me in your wonderful tradition! I know Theo's watching.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
~Merry and Peaceful Christmas Morning~
From Gemma:
My little act was something for my form group, 9 Fleet, at the inner city London secondary school where I work. They are generally quite difficult and pretty hard to handle as a group. I often have weary teachers knocking at my office door sharing tales of horror about what 9 Fleet did next! As a result I tend to shy away from events with them, nervous how they may behave. This year, however, I decided to throw them a Christmas Party dedicated to Theo. We had a great time. One of my main aims was to ensure that one particular student, who is often excluded and unpopular in the class, would be involved and stay for the whole party...and he did! I made a conscious effort to give him special responsibilities and have a chat. All the kids brought in something to share.....homemade cookies, Bangladeshi rice, Greek cookies and Pringles galore!
At the end of the party I made a little speech about what a great class 9 Fleet can be and that they all deserved a pat on the back. It was lovely and in our final assembly (straight after our sugar fueled party!) they were a real credit to themselves. Ultimately, it reminded me that whilst they drive me insane they are a fabulous bunch, all special in their own ways! The highlight of the party was a class song to the tune of Jingle Bells. Highly amusing. The lyrics escape me, but we all had a good laugh! I hope you have a lovely Christmas with your family.
All my love
Gemma D.
From Tadashi:
This Christmas I am committed to doing something I've never done before: I am going to make Christmas dinner for my family. When I'm living in Richmond and making my own meals my diet usually consists of cereal, canned tuna, deli-meat sandwiches and Shafer. Not exactly Christmas appropriate. I'm not sure if I am going to be capable of preparing the feast I have planned for tomorrow, but I'll definitely try my best.
I hope it turns out okay, but if it is a total disaster I assure you it was intended to be an act of kindness!
Merry Christmas guys, I hope you have a great one.
Tadashi
From Laura:
I think your idea for Theo is absolutely wonderful and I'm so happy to participate!
This year, I did something nice for my mom. Every year she spends hours and hours decorating the house, inside and out. She string the lights on the tree (her least favorite thing to do) and she puts up all the ornaments with little to no help. She makes the outside of our house look beautifully lit up, and makes sure to get the right gifts for everyone. What she is most proud of, however, is the small and often unnoticed decorations that are all over the inside. She hangs ornaments on our staircase and lets red ribbon cascade downwards beneath them. She sets up tiny nativity scenes in random places. She gets all the teddy bears (including my old beanie babies) from around the house in an arrangement near the presents under the tree. She sets up a winter scene including ribbons, candles and pine cones along our mantlepiece, and uses old christmas crafts made by my brother and I when we were little. My mom takes so much pride in the decorations to our house, so this year I decided to acknowledge them. I let her take me all around the house and show me every little thing she put up. Part of the time I was bored, but part of the time I was delighted, especially to see the crafts I had made when I was too young to remember and when Christmas was the most exciting thing to happen in my life. I was also very delighted to see how happy it made my mom for one person in the house to sit by our tree on Christmas eve and just look at it, just simply enjoy it. She just wants other people to enjoy the Christmas decorations, so this year I did. I decided not to just walk past them.
Consider my acknowledgment of my old pasta shell candle holders and glitter picture frames made in preschool an acknowledgement of Theo Fueglein. An acknowledgement of how lucky I am to have been able to make all those things as a kid and an acknowledgement of how much I wish he was able to make them too.
Have a very Merry Christmas Fueglein family, I hope Theo gets many stocking letters this year!
-Laura
From Minh:
To the Fueglein family,
I know it is Christmas already but I still wanted to have the chance to share my good deed. It has taken along time for me to do something or even think of something good enough to write on a blog. Each day I would try and figure out what I was able to do to help someone, however, I felt like nothing was good enough. I wanted so badly to do something extraordinary to make a difference but it was much more difficult then I thought it was going to be. I finally realized I have been thinking to hard about it.
So I looked back on things I have done and there it was. Every Thursday around 4:00, I volunteer at the MCV hospital, in the pediatric emergency room. Being only a volunteer I wasn’t able to have as much hands on help as I had hoped to. My job was to give out books to the children while they were waiting or just simply organizing and filling the book shelves with new books. I felt it was a waste of time since I thought I didn’t have any effect on the children. But once seeing the happiness in them when receiving something as small as a book I feel relief and a feeling that I have done so much more than just read a children’s book. When reading a kid one of my favorite book as a child I can see the interest in their facial expressions. I can’t really explain the feeling but I like being able to interact with the kids and getting their mind off their illness. I am glad I have the opportunity of being able to volunteer in an environment such as the MCV hospital.
This is my good deed that I felt was good enough to be written down.
I hope the best wishes to you family!
Happy Holidays :)
--Minh
From Ms. Sharma:
Dear Mrs. and Mr. Fueglein,
In the honor of baby Theo, I would like to say that it was a brilliant idea to design a blog for him. I feel it’s great that every dear one and friends that you know will be able to convey his or her regards for baby Theo. As a friend I would like convey my warmest regards and share the good deed I have during Christmas.
I volunteer at St Mary’s and throughout my volunteer experience I have realized a lot of things. One of the things I have felt or deeply realized is that not many people, whom we come across throughout the day, can celebrate Christmas as happily as we imagine everybody to celebrate. There are so many patients in this hospital who cannot be home with their loved ones during Christmas.
It is great to discharge patients right before Christmas and give them the chance to be with their dear ones and share happy moments together. As volunteer when I see a patient get discharged, or when new mothers go home with their new born baby, I feel as if a miracle has happened; a miracle in the sense that they were lucky to be home during Christmas.
I sincerely hope that this would make you all and baby Theo happy. Christmas is mostly about doing good things for others, and I wish I did something good during this Christmas.
I wish you all MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR
My little act was something for my form group, 9 Fleet, at the inner city London secondary school where I work. They are generally quite difficult and pretty hard to handle as a group. I often have weary teachers knocking at my office door sharing tales of horror about what 9 Fleet did next! As a result I tend to shy away from events with them, nervous how they may behave. This year, however, I decided to throw them a Christmas Party dedicated to Theo. We had a great time. One of my main aims was to ensure that one particular student, who is often excluded and unpopular in the class, would be involved and stay for the whole party...and he did! I made a conscious effort to give him special responsibilities and have a chat. All the kids brought in something to share.....homemade cookies, Bangladeshi rice, Greek cookies and Pringles galore!
At the end of the party I made a little speech about what a great class 9 Fleet can be and that they all deserved a pat on the back. It was lovely and in our final assembly (straight after our sugar fueled party!) they were a real credit to themselves. Ultimately, it reminded me that whilst they drive me insane they are a fabulous bunch, all special in their own ways! The highlight of the party was a class song to the tune of Jingle Bells. Highly amusing. The lyrics escape me, but we all had a good laugh! I hope you have a lovely Christmas with your family.
All my love
Gemma D.
From Tadashi:
This Christmas I am committed to doing something I've never done before: I am going to make Christmas dinner for my family. When I'm living in Richmond and making my own meals my diet usually consists of cereal, canned tuna, deli-meat sandwiches and Shafer. Not exactly Christmas appropriate. I'm not sure if I am going to be capable of preparing the feast I have planned for tomorrow, but I'll definitely try my best.
I hope it turns out okay, but if it is a total disaster I assure you it was intended to be an act of kindness!
Merry Christmas guys, I hope you have a great one.
Tadashi
From Laura:
I think your idea for Theo is absolutely wonderful and I'm so happy to participate!
This year, I did something nice for my mom. Every year she spends hours and hours decorating the house, inside and out. She string the lights on the tree (her least favorite thing to do) and she puts up all the ornaments with little to no help. She makes the outside of our house look beautifully lit up, and makes sure to get the right gifts for everyone. What she is most proud of, however, is the small and often unnoticed decorations that are all over the inside. She hangs ornaments on our staircase and lets red ribbon cascade downwards beneath them. She sets up tiny nativity scenes in random places. She gets all the teddy bears (including my old beanie babies) from around the house in an arrangement near the presents under the tree. She sets up a winter scene including ribbons, candles and pine cones along our mantlepiece, and uses old christmas crafts made by my brother and I when we were little. My mom takes so much pride in the decorations to our house, so this year I decided to acknowledge them. I let her take me all around the house and show me every little thing she put up. Part of the time I was bored, but part of the time I was delighted, especially to see the crafts I had made when I was too young to remember and when Christmas was the most exciting thing to happen in my life. I was also very delighted to see how happy it made my mom for one person in the house to sit by our tree on Christmas eve and just look at it, just simply enjoy it. She just wants other people to enjoy the Christmas decorations, so this year I did. I decided not to just walk past them.
Consider my acknowledgment of my old pasta shell candle holders and glitter picture frames made in preschool an acknowledgement of Theo Fueglein. An acknowledgement of how lucky I am to have been able to make all those things as a kid and an acknowledgement of how much I wish he was able to make them too.
Have a very Merry Christmas Fueglein family, I hope Theo gets many stocking letters this year!
-Laura
From Minh:
To the Fueglein family,
I know it is Christmas already but I still wanted to have the chance to share my good deed. It has taken along time for me to do something or even think of something good enough to write on a blog. Each day I would try and figure out what I was able to do to help someone, however, I felt like nothing was good enough. I wanted so badly to do something extraordinary to make a difference but it was much more difficult then I thought it was going to be. I finally realized I have been thinking to hard about it.
So I looked back on things I have done and there it was. Every Thursday around 4:00, I volunteer at the MCV hospital, in the pediatric emergency room. Being only a volunteer I wasn’t able to have as much hands on help as I had hoped to. My job was to give out books to the children while they were waiting or just simply organizing and filling the book shelves with new books. I felt it was a waste of time since I thought I didn’t have any effect on the children. But once seeing the happiness in them when receiving something as small as a book I feel relief and a feeling that I have done so much more than just read a children’s book. When reading a kid one of my favorite book as a child I can see the interest in their facial expressions. I can’t really explain the feeling but I like being able to interact with the kids and getting their mind off their illness. I am glad I have the opportunity of being able to volunteer in an environment such as the MCV hospital.
This is my good deed that I felt was good enough to be written down.
I hope the best wishes to you family!
Happy Holidays :)
--Minh
From Ms. Sharma:
Dear Mrs. and Mr. Fueglein,
In the honor of baby Theo, I would like to say that it was a brilliant idea to design a blog for him. I feel it’s great that every dear one and friends that you know will be able to convey his or her regards for baby Theo. As a friend I would like convey my warmest regards and share the good deed I have during Christmas.
I volunteer at St Mary’s and throughout my volunteer experience I have realized a lot of things. One of the things I have felt or deeply realized is that not many people, whom we come across throughout the day, can celebrate Christmas as happily as we imagine everybody to celebrate. There are so many patients in this hospital who cannot be home with their loved ones during Christmas.
It is great to discharge patients right before Christmas and give them the chance to be with their dear ones and share happy moments together. As volunteer when I see a patient get discharged, or when new mothers go home with their new born baby, I feel as if a miracle has happened; a miracle in the sense that they were lucky to be home during Christmas.
I sincerely hope that this would make you all and baby Theo happy. Christmas is mostly about doing good things for others, and I wish I did something good during this Christmas.
I wish you all MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Kindnesses for Christmas Eve
From Liz:
Hey there favorite family!
Since you started this tradition I have been conscious of random acts of kindness; this notion has become part of everyday life. Thank you for that. Theo's picture is still on my fireplace and I visit him often.
Today I raked leaves in our lawn and swept the walk. While I was at it, I did my neighbors' walks too. The exercise was good in the cold and now my one neighbor who has arthritis doesn't have to worry about it. That makes me happy. Your family makes me happy too.
Sending much love,
xoxoxoxo
liz
From Evy:
Hey Mr. F,
I had just bought a scarf from the store for myself for winter and as I was walking to get back on the metro I saw a man who was cold and very pale and had on these ripped pants and a worn out jacket with holes in his gloves. He was laying down with a pepsi cup next to him that had a couple of coins in it. So I walked over, took my scarf off, and gave it to him. He was so grateful for it.
I hope you that you and your family have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year Mr. F.
Sincerely,
Evy G.
From Pam and Dawn:
Jamie, Karla, & Lula,
I have been a witness to so many acts of kindness this season, and I always think of Little Theo. There is so much need in the world around us it seems overwhelming to figure out how to help sometimes.
I have a coworker who is a very dear friend of mine. Her 24 year old son has a condition called TTP, and she found out right before Thanksgiving that his kidneys have failed and that he will be a dailysis patient indefinitely. He lives in Memphis with his girlfriend and 4 month old baby boy. My friend really wanted to spend some time with her son and grandson over the Thanksgiving holiday, but finances were very tight and I could see that she was worrying about how to fund the trip.
The day before she was supposed to leave, I decided to ask a few of my co-workers if they'd like to chip in to help out with her gas money. Word began to spread around and people from all over our department started approaching me and contributing. In a little less than an hour, I had collected enough money to cover all of her travel expenses and her hotel room while she was in Memphis. I was so moved by the outpouring of concern and that people really wanted to make sure she was able to make this trip. When I gave her the envelope, she tearfully shared with me that she had been very troubled about how she was going to come up with the money to make the trip. She, her mother, and her younger son were able to spend 4 days with her son and his new family in Memphis and she was able to meet her grandson for the first time. She even had enough left over to purchase some items for the baby.
Dawn and I also participated in adopt a needy family again this year and will be making a donation to Noah's Children in honor of Theo.
Happy Holidays- we love you.
Pam and Dawn
From Andrea, Charles and Isabelle:
We love the idea of Theo's Christmas Stocking, what a wonderful tribute to your amazing boy. We decided to give a gift to our local animal shelter. We packed up a box of supplies for the animals in need. Since we lost 2 cats this year we had some extra things around the house, like toys and a lambswool blanket. Then we went to the store to buy cat & dog food and some other needed supplies. I donated this to the Richmond Animal League, and they were so appreciative. We also made a monetary donation. There are so many homeless cats & dogs in need of homes, especially now with the economy being so bad and donations being down.
Thank you for reminding us what is really important in life and inspiring others through Theo to make the world a better place.
Love,
Andrea, Charles, & Isabelle
From Helen Ruth:
Merry Christmas, Jamie, Karla and Lula,
Ah, so many common names here. My sister is Carla and my grandmother was Lula! AND Jamie is my beloved colleague! How much closer can I get to your family?
I confess, I don’t have any magnificent random acts to report but I do want to let you know that I applied for and received a grant from the United Methodist Thrift Shop Foundation in Durango, Colorado. The grant is now on its way to Southern Sudan where it will be used to build a shelter for some Sudanese Orphans who sell their crafts in the local market of the Kakuma Refugee camp. Instead of sitting out on the dusty streets, they will now have a nice shelter to house their items and to protect them from the elements. I probably won’t ever meet these children but maybe their young lives will be improved by this assistance.
Merry Christmas and all the best for the coming year.
Love,
Helen Ruth
Hey there favorite family!
Since you started this tradition I have been conscious of random acts of kindness; this notion has become part of everyday life. Thank you for that. Theo's picture is still on my fireplace and I visit him often.
Today I raked leaves in our lawn and swept the walk. While I was at it, I did my neighbors' walks too. The exercise was good in the cold and now my one neighbor who has arthritis doesn't have to worry about it. That makes me happy. Your family makes me happy too.
Sending much love,
xoxoxoxo
liz
From Evy:
Hey Mr. F,
I had just bought a scarf from the store for myself for winter and as I was walking to get back on the metro I saw a man who was cold and very pale and had on these ripped pants and a worn out jacket with holes in his gloves. He was laying down with a pepsi cup next to him that had a couple of coins in it. So I walked over, took my scarf off, and gave it to him. He was so grateful for it.
I hope you that you and your family have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year Mr. F.
Sincerely,
Evy G.
From Pam and Dawn:
Jamie, Karla, & Lula,
I have been a witness to so many acts of kindness this season, and I always think of Little Theo. There is so much need in the world around us it seems overwhelming to figure out how to help sometimes.
I have a coworker who is a very dear friend of mine. Her 24 year old son has a condition called TTP, and she found out right before Thanksgiving that his kidneys have failed and that he will be a dailysis patient indefinitely. He lives in Memphis with his girlfriend and 4 month old baby boy. My friend really wanted to spend some time with her son and grandson over the Thanksgiving holiday, but finances were very tight and I could see that she was worrying about how to fund the trip.
The day before she was supposed to leave, I decided to ask a few of my co-workers if they'd like to chip in to help out with her gas money. Word began to spread around and people from all over our department started approaching me and contributing. In a little less than an hour, I had collected enough money to cover all of her travel expenses and her hotel room while she was in Memphis. I was so moved by the outpouring of concern and that people really wanted to make sure she was able to make this trip. When I gave her the envelope, she tearfully shared with me that she had been very troubled about how she was going to come up with the money to make the trip. She, her mother, and her younger son were able to spend 4 days with her son and his new family in Memphis and she was able to meet her grandson for the first time. She even had enough left over to purchase some items for the baby.
Dawn and I also participated in adopt a needy family again this year and will be making a donation to Noah's Children in honor of Theo.
Happy Holidays- we love you.
Pam and Dawn
From Andrea, Charles and Isabelle:
We love the idea of Theo's Christmas Stocking, what a wonderful tribute to your amazing boy. We decided to give a gift to our local animal shelter. We packed up a box of supplies for the animals in need. Since we lost 2 cats this year we had some extra things around the house, like toys and a lambswool blanket. Then we went to the store to buy cat & dog food and some other needed supplies. I donated this to the Richmond Animal League, and they were so appreciative. We also made a monetary donation. There are so many homeless cats & dogs in need of homes, especially now with the economy being so bad and donations being down.
Thank you for reminding us what is really important in life and inspiring others through Theo to make the world a better place.
Love,
Andrea, Charles, & Isabelle
From Helen Ruth:
Merry Christmas, Jamie, Karla and Lula,
Ah, so many common names here. My sister is Carla and my grandmother was Lula! AND Jamie is my beloved colleague! How much closer can I get to your family?
I confess, I don’t have any magnificent random acts to report but I do want to let you know that I applied for and received a grant from the United Methodist Thrift Shop Foundation in Durango, Colorado. The grant is now on its way to Southern Sudan where it will be used to build a shelter for some Sudanese Orphans who sell their crafts in the local market of the Kakuma Refugee camp. Instead of sitting out on the dusty streets, they will now have a nice shelter to house their items and to protect them from the elements. I probably won’t ever meet these children but maybe their young lives will be improved by this assistance.
Merry Christmas and all the best for the coming year.
Love,
Helen Ruth
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Still More...
I was wrapping up my Christmas shopping today, and when I went to check out the lady at the counter asked me if I wanted to donate a book to this Children's charity. I immediately thought of this, and took the opportunity. I was kind of excited about choosing the book, but it turns out that I just donated them some money and they choose the books, I guess. Hopefully they'll pick something good.
Merry Christmas
Tom
Dear Family,
While this is a small gesture, I wanted you to know that I have been thinking about the love you must still feel for the little one you lost. I lost my father almost 10 years ago (as of December 27, 2008), who was known for helping others. This act is so simple, yet so many times we can forget to allow it to work its magic. Today, I was in my car in a long line of cars waiting to mail Christmas cards. There was a small car that needed to get out of the parking lot, but could not reverse with the long line of cars that seemed to pass in such a rush. Seeing the small car, and thinking of your request, I waved the driver out so she could leave and allow another to park at the busy post office. Feeling proud, I wondered what else I could do as a random act of kindness.
But the kindness didn't stop there... just a short few moments later, as I finally pulled up to mail my cards, I saw something so heart warming. Out of the corner of my eye, that same driver in the small car was waving her hands to allow another driver to get in front of her so they could also leave that post office parking lot.
While these are such small gestures, it is clear, kindness is contagious. My hope is that my family will also commit to random acts of kindness.
After all, in our hearts, we have the potential to become weapons of mass affection.
Adele
Merry Christmas
Tom
Dear Family,
While this is a small gesture, I wanted you to know that I have been thinking about the love you must still feel for the little one you lost. I lost my father almost 10 years ago (as of December 27, 2008), who was known for helping others. This act is so simple, yet so many times we can forget to allow it to work its magic. Today, I was in my car in a long line of cars waiting to mail Christmas cards. There was a small car that needed to get out of the parking lot, but could not reverse with the long line of cars that seemed to pass in such a rush. Seeing the small car, and thinking of your request, I waved the driver out so she could leave and allow another to park at the busy post office. Feeling proud, I wondered what else I could do as a random act of kindness.
But the kindness didn't stop there... just a short few moments later, as I finally pulled up to mail my cards, I saw something so heart warming. Out of the corner of my eye, that same driver in the small car was waving her hands to allow another driver to get in front of her so they could also leave that post office parking lot.
While these are such small gestures, it is clear, kindness is contagious. My hope is that my family will also commit to random acts of kindness.
After all, in our hearts, we have the potential to become weapons of mass affection.
Adele
Monday, December 22, 2008
More Acts Of Kindness
I sent a Holiday card to a man that lives alone in our neighborhood and does not have many friends or family. I hope that it brightens his day to know that a neighbor was thinking of him...
Another act of kindness was that together with friends we collected money to purchase gifts for a family so that they would have Christmas presents underneath their tree this year. They were very grateful and it was a gift to us to see how happy they were.
I will continue to spread the holiday cheer and kindness throughout the year in memory of your sweet son. Thank you for inspiring so many people to share love and support to one another.
..............................................................................................
This year my Husband and I will be cooking a full Christmas dinner for a local family we have come to know quite well. Last year this family lost their home to a house fire due to bad wiring and we found them a temporary place to stay while they found alternate housing. The local lady runs the town dump and her boyfriend is a local repair man and has worked on numerous houses of family and friends. When we found out this year that they were still struggling, we decided to volunteer to cook and deliver a ham and turkey with two pies, 5 sides and enough frozen meat to last an extra month in case of hard times during the rest of the year. We hope that through this effort we can make their holiday a little better, and perhaps the world a better place.
Amy and Victor
Another act of kindness was that together with friends we collected money to purchase gifts for a family so that they would have Christmas presents underneath their tree this year. They were very grateful and it was a gift to us to see how happy they were.
I will continue to spread the holiday cheer and kindness throughout the year in memory of your sweet son. Thank you for inspiring so many people to share love and support to one another.
..............................................................................................
This year my Husband and I will be cooking a full Christmas dinner for a local family we have come to know quite well. Last year this family lost their home to a house fire due to bad wiring and we found them a temporary place to stay while they found alternate housing. The local lady runs the town dump and her boyfriend is a local repair man and has worked on numerous houses of family and friends. When we found out this year that they were still struggling, we decided to volunteer to cook and deliver a ham and turkey with two pies, 5 sides and enough frozen meat to last an extra month in case of hard times during the rest of the year. We hope that through this effort we can make their holiday a little better, and perhaps the world a better place.
Amy and Victor
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Gifts Multiplied
Jamie and Karla,
On Friday Dec. 19th I went with my brother and a friend to hear the Richmond Boys' Choir at St. Andrews Church. The "ticket" was a food donation to the Central Va. Foodbank. The boys' singing was wonderful, full of enthusiasm and heart.
Our bag of food was a small gift compared to the joy the boys gave to us, the audience.
Lenore
Jamie,
First, let me say that I am so sorry to hear about Theo. I remember that your wife was expecting when I went to work in Petersburg, and I really didn't see you again except for that one time when I was visiting VCU, so let me say that I am very sorry for your loss, and I really respect what you are doing in Theo's memory and honor. You are first-class, all the way.
Now for my first (and hopefully not last) act of random kindness in Theo's name: Tonight, in line at the Walmart (a place I hate to be), I let a woman who thought she was in line, but wasn't, in the line ahead of me. At first, there was tension because she was obviously butting in front of me (I had witnesses who were ready to be outraged on my behalf--there was a fierce energy in the line!), but I thought of your email and Theo, and the season, and I thought that a couple of minutes in line wasn't worth the stress and anger. I ended up chatting with the woman; she was buying a gift for her 70 year old mother's birthday. She was very nice, and a lot of the stress I had been feeling (stress that was making me more likely to snap at people) melted away. It worked out that several of us in the line had a pleasant conversation--mostly about how we shouldn't be too hard on the slow cashier because we know Walmart doesn't treat its employees very well. The mood lightened for several of us, I think. A little thing, I know, but they add up. It was a good moment that was almost a bad one.
Thanks for putting this energy out, especially at this time of year.
Merry Christmas,
Boz
Jamie, Karla, and Lula,
In honor of loved ones, we have given gifts of baby chicks to Heifer International. I hope you all have a happy and restful holiday.
For Theo's stocking--
With thoughts of dear little Theo, we made a contribution to Church Hill Academy, a relatively new school in association with CHAT (Church Hill Activities and Tutoring). Both minister to neighborhood kids in numerous ways. Theo would love the kids at Church Hill Academy. They're full of energy and inquisitiveness and are just plain fun. Giving to them through time, interaction, and funds is a privilege.
This time, Theo, we did it with thoughts of you. Blessings upon you, little one.
Pat and Randy
On Friday Dec. 19th I went with my brother and a friend to hear the Richmond Boys' Choir at St. Andrews Church. The "ticket" was a food donation to the Central Va. Foodbank. The boys' singing was wonderful, full of enthusiasm and heart.
Our bag of food was a small gift compared to the joy the boys gave to us, the audience.
Lenore
Jamie,
First, let me say that I am so sorry to hear about Theo. I remember that your wife was expecting when I went to work in Petersburg, and I really didn't see you again except for that one time when I was visiting VCU, so let me say that I am very sorry for your loss, and I really respect what you are doing in Theo's memory and honor. You are first-class, all the way.
Now for my first (and hopefully not last) act of random kindness in Theo's name: Tonight, in line at the Walmart (a place I hate to be), I let a woman who thought she was in line, but wasn't, in the line ahead of me. At first, there was tension because she was obviously butting in front of me (I had witnesses who were ready to be outraged on my behalf--there was a fierce energy in the line!), but I thought of your email and Theo, and the season, and I thought that a couple of minutes in line wasn't worth the stress and anger. I ended up chatting with the woman; she was buying a gift for her 70 year old mother's birthday. She was very nice, and a lot of the stress I had been feeling (stress that was making me more likely to snap at people) melted away. It worked out that several of us in the line had a pleasant conversation--mostly about how we shouldn't be too hard on the slow cashier because we know Walmart doesn't treat its employees very well. The mood lightened for several of us, I think. A little thing, I know, but they add up. It was a good moment that was almost a bad one.
Thanks for putting this energy out, especially at this time of year.
Merry Christmas,
Boz
Jamie, Karla, and Lula,
In honor of loved ones, we have given gifts of baby chicks to Heifer International. I hope you all have a happy and restful holiday.
For Theo's stocking--
With thoughts of dear little Theo, we made a contribution to Church Hill Academy, a relatively new school in association with CHAT (Church Hill Activities and Tutoring). Both minister to neighborhood kids in numerous ways. Theo would love the kids at Church Hill Academy. They're full of energy and inquisitiveness and are just plain fun. Giving to them through time, interaction, and funds is a privilege.
This time, Theo, we did it with thoughts of you. Blessings upon you, little one.
Pat and Randy
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