Stories Matching 'Family' Tag (137)Environment Research New Ideas Public Transportation Children Inspiration Teachers Seniors OnThe Road Grocery Store Money Workplace Animals At Home Anonymous Friendship Kindness Kindness of Strangers Courage Small Acts of Kindness Health and Wellness Generosity Sharing Family Respect Neighbors Reconciliation Smile Cards Advice Good Samaritan Giving Money Giving Ability School Church Youth Collective Arts Creative Kindness Random Act of Kindness Homeless Travel/Vacation College/University Holidays Internet Birthday Sharing Food Emergency/Disaster Community Relationships Paying-It-Forward Coffee Shop/Restaurants $100 Kindness Idea Smile Decks Thank You Serendipity Simple Surprise For Sister--posted by Jen Davies, on Feb 20, 2006 I plan to put one in each of my sisters lunches with a special surprise snack and note of love. I will then give them 4 more cards to encouarge them to take part in their own acts of kindness, while I use the remaining cards with random acts when I see a need. I hope encouranging my sisters when they are young will help them and their friends discover a joy of helping others that they will carry on throughout there lives. comments (5) | email this | print | permalink A Simple Prayer--posted by Shelley, on Apr 16, 2006
As a single mom, it is often hard for me to provide those little "extras" my children seem to want. comments (12) | email this | print | permalink A Christmas Gift For A Six Year Old--posted by Brendan Moran, on Nov 29, 2007
comments (14) | email this | print | permalink A Kindness Lesson in Action at Dinner--posted by Kim, on Apr 26, 2006
comments (17) | email this | print | permalink Christmas With My Son--posted by Anon, on May 5, 2006
I have a five year old son and two 18 month old twins and especially at Christmas time I wanted them to truely understand what the act of giving was all about. So I made a list of people that were less likely to recieve gifts or love and let my five year old chose who we would give gifts to. comments (11) | email this | print | permalink A Little Red Book--posted by JZ, on May 9, 2006 When you buy things with money, you feel like its owed to you. But when you receive something as an offering from someone else, the gift is a reminder of something bigger than yourself and you are filled with a humble reverance for all life. Well, this is a story of one of those gifts. In our middle-class living room, we have three shelves of books. We call it the "open source" bookshelf because any of our guests can take any book and contribute any book to it. No one tracks it; it's all based on trust, even though ... comments (1) | email this | print | permalink Sunflower and a Frog--posted by JZ, on Feb 23, 2008 He took it out from around his neck and leaned down a bit, his eyes looking straight into mine. "Would you mind?" he asks. Looking at him through his eye glasses, I smile and say, "Of course not, Lee. It would be an honor." And with that, I was garlanded -- probably for the first time in my life -- with a simple necklace. Lee is the epitome of a happy-go-lucky guy. He used to be a trucker, I think. If there were one word to describe him, it would be happy. Or joyous. And what a pure heart. In one ... comments (24) | email this | print | permalink Thankfulness Chocolates--posted by VM, on May 26, 2006
comments (3) | email this | print | permalink Buying a Miracle--posted by Anonymous, on Jun 13, 2006
A little girl went to her bedroom and pulled a glass jelly jar from its hiding place in the closet. She poured the change out on the floor and counted it carefully. Three times, even. The total had to be exactly perfect. No chance here for mistakes, carefully placing the coins back in the jar and twisting on the cap, she slipped out the back door and made her way 6 blocks to Rexall's Drug Store with the big red Indian Chief sign above the door. comments (23) | email this | print | permalink Tagging the Whole Entire Plane!--posted by Anon, on Jun 16, 2006
What better way to start a journey than to tag the passengers on my flight? comments (11) | email this | print | permalink Survivor Flowers--posted by Kat Callaway, on Jul 3, 2007 A few weeks ago, my mother, brothers and I went to Wal-Mart to get some things for my upcoming trip. It was pretty late, and the store, although huge, was very empty. However, as we approached the checkout lane, I noticed a lady wearing a baseball cap over her bare head. She looked tired, and it was pretty obvious that she was going through chemo.. .that, and my mother approached her and asked her. You see, a few years ago, my mother was also diagnosed with breast cancer. It was really hard for all of us, exspecially since we were in the ... comments (12) | email this | print | permalink Crown Coin--posted by Anon, on Jul 14, 2006
comments (11) | email this | print | permalink The Dusting Lady In My Hospital Room--posted by Maureen Flanagan, on Jul 20, 2006
When I was in hospital and just given birth to my first child a lady use to come in and dust and sweep. I would say 'Hello' and she would never answer. comments (24) | email this | print | permalink Driveway Turns Into A Beach--posted by Tom Gerdy, on Feb 14, 2008
comments (45) | email this | print | permalink Looking for Josephs--posted by Della, on Jul 28, 2006
She stood looking at every tag on the tree for over an hour. Ten years old and a heart of gold, she decided that she would give up one of her Christmas gifts to the boy named Joseph who needed clothes but wanted a skateboard. comments (11) | email this | print | permalink A Cup of Chai At 3AM--posted by MS, on Aug 22, 2006 The third round of flooding came at night. Residents kept vigil all night, waiting and watching the water level rise. Would it enter their home? As the water rose, people moved to the street, but still they wouldn't sleep. The water level continued it climb upwards, displacing more people as the hours passed. The stores were closed and traffic on the street minimal, but activity was in the air as people moved to help their relatives and neighbours. A distance away, a man heard the news. He jumped on his scooter and instead of heading to the ... comments (3) | email this | print | permalink A Little Bit of Love is the Price of the Fare--posted by hpotter, on Sep 21, 2006 As I waited for the bus, a shuttle rickshaw came by. It was headed towards my destination,and since it was pretty much the same price as the bus I jumped in. Inside, I found a mother sitting with her daughter. The little girl was absolutely precious. She was all dressed up in a new outfit, her hair done, new shoes and a purse on her lap. I've been taking lessons from a lot of inspiring sources and knew this was the perfect time to meet some strangers. I began talking to the little girl. They were headed to her aunt's house to ... comments (17) | email this | print | permalink Parle-G Biscuits and Grains--posted by Raghu, on Oct 7, 2006
We live in a small flat in Ranip (in India). While all the families in the society live in flats, many families’ economic prosperity is not much better than many living in slum. One such family lives behind us. A couple lives with their son and the husband’s brother and mother in a small inherited two room flat, that is 8 feet by 15 feet in size. The entire household subsists on the daily wages of the daily wages the male earns from doing labor work (20 – 50 rupees/day). comments (10) | email this | print | permalink Sandals at New Year's Eve--posted by MS, on Oct 4, 2006
comments (13) | email this | print | permalink Tins of Chocolate with a Smile...--posted by sonrisa, on Sep 20, 2006
Recently, my Mother underwent a surgery to repair a valve in her heart at UCLA Medical Center. During the first couple of days she was in the hospital, my Dad was telling me how wonderful the nurses were in the ICU and how they took such great care of my Mom and made sure she was comfortable at all times. comments (5) | email this | print | permalink Lessons From My Daddy--posted by millie, on Oct 3, 2006 well, im millie, im 15 years old, and im going to tell you about my daddy =) i dont see him much anymore, but i learnt so much when i was with him. i remember one time, dad, my little brother and i were on our way back to sydney on a plane...we were stuck inside the plane for an hour and a half after we landed because some trailer wouldnt work. anyway, a little girl and her brother were sitting in frount of us, they were about 4 or 5, and they were afraid of being stuck in the plane...the little girl was crying. So my dad started to do "magic" tricks, he had a yo yo and was making it "dissapear" and making funny faces, in no time at all, my dad, me, and my little brother had a small audience, the people next to us and the people behind and in frount. the parents of the kids thanked us, and we havnt seen them since, but i learnt from my dad that day...Laughter is the best medicine. comments (6) | email this | print | permalink The Japanese Man, Frank, and Michael--posted by keymaker, on Oct 6, 2006
comments (16) | email this | print | permalink Serendipity With a Camera Woman--posted by karmaklimber, on Oct 25, 2006
Recently my wife and I were in Maui, and we went to enjoy one of its gorgeous sunsets by the beach. While sitting there a nice lady saw us and asked, "Do you have a camera?". I replied, "Yeah", and then she offered to take a picture of us. So we stood up, got into our 'standard' arm around each other pose. Then she asked us to lie down on the ground to make the shot more interesting, and asked how to set the manual flash on my camera. My wife asked her if she was a photographer, and she replied, "Yes, but I don't have any jobs tonight." comments (4) | email this | print | permalink Neighbor in Need--posted by sonshine, on Dec 5, 2006
comments (5) | email this | print | permalink U2 Tickets--posted by courts, on Nov 14, 2006 I work in media and often get some pretty great perks in my job. I wanted to share one of them with you - probably one of the hardest acts of kindness I have done yet!!! But it was worth it!!! I was at work yesterday and was about to leave when my supervisor walked into my office and handed me an envelope. She had two tickets to the U2 concert that was playing that night in her hand and said they were mine if I wanted them. I LOVE U2, they are my favourite band, and I quickly said yes ... comments (14) | email this | print | permalink Employee Coupons--posted by Kelonia, on Nov 29, 2006
In the store where I work there are many customers who have kids, but hardly any money. This past weekend the employees were given coupons for 20 percent off any Christmas merchandise. We could give them to whoever we wanted. comments (7) | email this | print | permalink 1,000 Crisp Mohandases--posted by Mark, on Dec 4, 2006 It was late one night when I got an email from the states. It was my friend John who, as usual, had an idea. This one was about the power of connectedness. John was taken with the notion that he could, by sitting at his computer, with only a few small movements of his fingers, could affect change on the other side of the world. “In ten seconds,” he wrote, “I sent an email to my friend in Boston, asking him to go down to the street and give a watermelon to the first person he saw. And he did.” John, ... comments (4) | email this | print | permalink Costco Love--posted by earthling, on Dec 27, 2006
comments (15) | email this | print | permalink Patience is a virtue--posted by wint8, on Jan 15, 2007
Over the Christmas holidays my young boys were driving everyone in the house bonkers with their fighting, usually it's worst just before bedtime. Yesterday, at separate times of the day, I sat with each of my sons and told him "I love you". A few hours later, I realised those words had been missing from my regular vocalbulary since the holidays started. I felt guilty. With so much time to do things together, it's inevitable that friction happens. It was kind of like coming up for air, when I said "I love you". My sons are more affectionate and calmer when they are around me now. I know it won't last, but if I keep positive, patient and loving, then life will be a lot more peaceful. comments (6) | email this | print | permalink Children of The Lab--posted by carol, on Feb 26, 2007
I work in a medical building right next door to a lab whose primary mission is to draw blood from all ages of patients. Our walls are really thin and I can hear babies and young children crying, wailing the most desperate, betrayed kind of wail. It really gets to me. So I went to The Dollar Tree store & bought cuddly, soft Teddy Bears in different colors. When I hear the lab office door open, I walk out and hand the teddy bear to the traumatized baby or child and tell them, "We are so PROUD of you! What a brave boy/girl you are!" Some kids, believe it or not, don't trust another human being coming out of an office so don't want the bear. Some hug it right away. Most stop crying...I'm not sure who appreciates it more - the child or the parent! comments (13) | email this | print | permalink
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When I was 21 yrs old, I was dating a girl whose parent's friends were going through a divorce. They had a 6 year old daughter and unfortunately their separation was just before Christmas and we both knew how upset the little girl was. Her dad was not living in the house and wasn't planning on spending Christmas with them.
So my girlfriend and I wrote little notes like, "On the first day of Christmas, my secret Santa gave to me...." and put a gift each night on their porch for the little girl. We started this about 2 weeks ... 
I love to do the random things like pay for the person behind me in the fast food drive thru.... This week after church we decided to go out to eat with our kids in tow. Our family consists of 6 children, some adopted. We went to a local restaurant. We were seated next to a family of 4 children, and I noticed the young mother had a bandana on her head and appeared to have a hair loss issue, it immediatly touched my heart.
I told my husband I want to pay their bill. He looked around, I think he was looking ... 
We recently bought some furniture from a shop, and they really worked hard to make sure it reached us within 2 days. So I just thought I’d buy a box of chocolates for the salesman, who really did a good job on selling us on it. 
When my father married my mother in 1943 he gave my mother a 1937 crown coin and told her to keep it in the back of her purse and not spend it. This would mean that she always felt that she was protected and would always have money if she really needed it. 
A dear friend was only weeks away from death from cancer. She said she was sorry she wouldn't be able to see the ocean again and get her toes in the sand. We live in Central Virginia and she was unable to travel so the trip to the coast wasn't going to happen. Some of us decided the solution was pretty simple. We would surprise her and bring the beach to her.
Many people spend their New Year’s Eve, getting dressed up and dancing their way to midnight. We decided to do things a bit differently.
We filled a backpack with clothes, shoes and other goodies and headed out to the railway station. The first person we spotted was a 15-16 year old boy picking up discarded plastic bottles on the platform. We called him over and started up a conversation. We had a discrete look at his hands and noticed he had long fingernail. We explained that it was important to keep short nails (studies have shown that disease occurrence in the poor can be ... 
The Japanese man points to my airplane seat, right as I head to the bathroom. He didn't speak much English, so I just signal that I'll be back in couple minutes. When I return, we play charades to see if he wants to swap his aisle seat with my window seat. "Yes, yes," he says with a child-like glee.
I am more than happy to oblige. My window shutter has been down for couple hours of the flight already and I am hardly planning on making any further use of it.
Right before he changes seats, he folds his hands and bows ... 
I knew my neighbor and her husband had recently separated and she was struggling. She hadn't shared with me her struggles, but I just knew it couldn't be easy money wise as they had 4 children, one being blind, and they were struggling financially before the separation.
She had not been working before they separated as her youngest child was blind and not yet in school. It was summer time and school was about to start. As I was shopping for items for my granddaughters, I began thinking about her children and how she would be able to get them items they needed that year. I went ... 
My Mom is visiting from India and I wanted to show her some Christmas shopping spirit! So one of these evenings, I took her to a nearby store. As we got out from the car, I noticed something blue and plastic and shining in semi-darkness. A black & white image of a cheerful, middle-aged lady smiled at me. It was a high-end Costco membership card.
I figured she must live pretty close. So when we got home, I picked up the phone book and found the number that matched her name. A friendly male voice answered saying it is indeed his ... | Home | About Us | Our Friends | Get Involved | Contact us |  |  |  |