Category: Stories of Kindness

Well, her best friend from work, a woman named Andrea, had always talked about wanting to move to NC, just the timing was never right, and it still wasn’t. Instead of moving to NC, she bought a home there (!) that she called her ‘summer home’, and let my Mom live there so she could be near me and also be independent.

It was the craziest thing I’d ever seen anyone do. And even though my Mom couldn’t survive the cancer – she made it for about two years after they found it  – it was the most amazing thing that she could be near me, she could see my daughters (her grandchildren) and we could help her when she needed it, and we had amazing times as a family before Mom passed, thanks to Andrea’s kindness and unbelievable generosity.

Andrea didn’t even keep the house after Mom wasn’t there – even though it was technically hers, she thought she’d be moving into ‘Mom’s space’, so she sold it. But before she did, she helped me put together the most beautiful Celebration of Life in the house, and Mom’s friends from all over the country flew in to remember her. There was a lot of crying and a lot of laughing, but mostly there was just love.

Thank you for what you’re doing and for letting me share this story. I haven’t seen Andrea in years, but I’ll never forget what she did for my Mom.

My dad would always get a care package from home from my grandma and apparently he would give away most of the candy and food he would receive in the box. The main theme of every story about my dad was how helpful, giving and kind he was during the time he served with these men.  They all would reminisce how my dad helped them get through some pretty tough times.  It sounded pretty scary.   It made me feel very proud to know how much these men respected my dad. They described my dad as the first one to ‘go through the door’ and ‘the last one to eat’.

One day I asked my dad how it really was over ‘there’ during the war.  And it was interesting to me to hear his answer.   My dad went into detail seeing his best friend blown to pieces and seeing the bloody aftermath of a shoot out on the side of a road block. He described how he was afraid to close his eyes to sleep and how scared he was the entire time.  When I asked how he was able to get through it all, he said being helpful to his buddies.  He said that when he was helping others that were just as scared as he was, that he felt a sense of calm and peace.  That in essence, his kindness and his willingness to help others during extreme circumstance was his focus and the distraction kept him from being as scared as the others.  My dad said that being kind to others that were in the same circumstance gave him the power to achieve and stay alive.

As the years came and went, Mrs Frank passed, but I would still visit Mr Frank and play with Bo everyday.  Bo who was extremely obedient was very well trained.  Eventually I went away to College and while away at college, Mr Frank also passed.  There was no one to care for Bo and my Mom felt she needed to take in Bo.

Although I still had my allergy issues, I would come home from school and play with Bo. It was during one of these visits that my Mom told me that Mr Frank passed away from lung cancer and that he had very serious respiratory issues.  My Mom told me that Mr Frank saved Bo from the dog pound and that he struggled to keep healthy with long haired Bo in his house.  But the Franks were so kind and giving that they wanted for me and my brothers to have a pet. They felt that a pet would teach responsibility.

But when I learned Mr Frank had lung cancer and struggled with his breathing in order for me to have a dog, it made me realize true kindness I had never experienced before.

my mom is the cutest art teacher ever!! She made a dress and had every one of her students draw one thing on the dress for her to wear. This was her at her student’s art show tonight. IM SOBBING

A photo posted by her daughter, Charlece Lake, on Twitter has since gone viral — charming the internet with the lovely gesture.

“I love that my kids learned to collaborate with the entire school,” Bonner told TODAY Style in an email. “They worked as a collective team to create images that they knew I would appreciate wearing.”

The drawings also had to be tiny since they had to fit all 580 students’ artwork on the outfit.

“They were so careful and thoughtful,” she said. “You can see a ton of rainbows, hearts, flowers, dogs, unicorns, superheroes, paintbrushes and emojis! All things I love! It was quite a special experience.”

It took about two weeks to finish the skirt of the dress, which had been left out in the front of Bonner’s room in order for the kids to take turns adding their artwork.

She wore the dress (only the skirt itself is decorated) to her school’s art show last May for the first time and then brought it out again at the end of last week for the district’s art show.

“My daughter asked to take a picture of me as I was walking to get in the car, so I turned around and pulled up the edge of the dress so she could get all the doodles in the photo,” Bonner said. “I didn’t even know she posted it to her Twitter!”

The photos have been retweeted more than 12,000 times and received about 109,000 likes.

“My immediate reaction was I was happy that art and something positive was getting a little love,” she said. “I hope other future teachers see this and get excited and inspired.”

Bonner got the idea from a private Facebook group for elementary school art teachers, and she’s always looking for ways to involve the whole school in collaborations like a butterfly garden, or making a mural out of bottle caps.

That means she’s not done finding ways to keep kids engaged with art. “My new students and my kindergartners need the opportunity to be a part of a doodle dress,” she said. “I just need to order a new, plain white dress off Amazon!”

We can’t wait to see the next masterpiece!

Just then a car pulled in behind me and the driver, a man, got out to see if I was ok, which I definitely was not. I don’t know what made me do this, but I begged this complete stranger to take my car through for me. I’m sure he thought I was off my rocker, but he agreed, and when my car was finished in the car wash he came back to let me know. He made a point of letting me know that he’d kept his hands on the steering wheel the whole time, reassuring me that he hadn’t taken anything.

I was so grateful, I wanted to pay for his car wash. He turned me down , saying he had to get back to his wife & baby I’m the car.  I’d been in such a panicked state I hadn’t even noticed them there.

Ultimately he allowed me to buy his car wash, such a small thing compared to what I feel he did for me – taking his time and his family’s time to help me through what might seem a small rhing to most, but anyone who’s ever had an attack of claustrophobia understands how terrifying it is in the moment, and this man helped me in a way that I can’t imagine very many people doing, and completely selflessly.

I will never forget his kindness, and I believe a guardian angel was looking out for me.