Thank you for holding the door for an old woman at Cracker Barrel. You must’ve been fourteen, you were with friends. You were laughing and carrying on when you saw the old woman, pushing a walker. You jogged ahead. You beat her to the door. You held it open.
She thanked you. You yes-ma’amed her. And you made my day, kid.
My whole day.
And thanks for giving money to a homeless man in Birmingham, Alabama. You don’t know me, but I watched you.
I was at a stoplight. You were outside UAB School of Medicine campus. You wore green scrubs, and carried a backpack. You gave money. Then, you gave a cup of coffee and a fast food to-go bag.
Thanks for sitting with that young girl after work. She was seated on the sidewalk outside the bar. She was waiting for her ride.
It was two in the morning. She didn’t need to be alone at that hour. So you sat with her. You might not think you did much, but you did.
Thank you for filling that backpack with food, then leaving it in a tenth-grader’s locker—anonymously.
You know who you are.
Thank you for picking up a hitchhiker outside Anniston, Alabama. Even though modern wisdom warns against this, you followed your heart.
When the hitchhiker stepped into your car, you could tell he had mental illness. But you didn’t try to fix him, you didn’t try to be a hero, you didn’t try to DO anything. You were just nice to him. And he appreciated that.
Thanks for driving a kid named Peter to baseball practice. After his father died, his mother has been working double shifts. Peter has been babysitting and cooking supper for his sisters since his mother started working longer hours.
Peter had to drop out of baseball because he didn’t have a ride.…