The Kindness of Strangers

It never ceases to amaze me, the whole "kindness of strangers" thing. You sort of figure that your friends and family always have your back - that's a given. But if you really look, you'll find there's a world of kindness out there - and people willing to share it, even when they hardly know you.

Or when they only know you from a virtual land of blogs and chatboards.

Which is how I ended up with three, brand new, heat-resistant spatulas last night. I found them when I wandered out into the dark, muggy night to get the mail. They were sitting there, in our mailbox - a surprise gift from a virtual friend who remembered my story of the Father's Day biscotti fiasco (you might recall that I accidentally baked a bit of broken spatula into the cookies I made for my father-in-law) and thought of me when she saw three brightly coloured spatulas at the store.

So she sent them to me.

I know they're just spatulas, but they represent a kindness of heart that always breaks mine. It amazes me when things like this happen. There is SO much goodness out there.

I received an ovulation predictor kit from an American friend who was horrified by the cost of them up here in Canada, a home pregnancy test from another friend who wanted me to share in her miracle (a baby conceived after her tubes were tied), and countless gestures of kindness when Thomas' birthday rolled around (donations, flowers, gifts - you name it). And I regularly receive random cards from friends who just want to say hi - even friends who have suffered the same kind of loss as I have.

I don't always tell them, but these things often motivate me to return the cosmic favour and find some random act of kindness to do for someone else who might be in need of the kind of day brightener that has just been bestowed upon me.

My Beloved blogged about this a while ago - how goodness begets goodness - and it's so true. I'm softened and buoyed when something sweet happens to me. It helps me remember that there's more to this life than the sorrows and problems that I sometimes can't seem to see past. It reminds me that there are small, simple ways to make people happy - to let them know that they're loved and special and thought of often.

So to all the do-gooders (and you know who you are) thank you for reminding me to be a better person, and for giving me the kick in the pants I sometimes need very much indeed.

And to K, thank you for the spatulas.