Anne Herbert’s “Random Kindness and Senseless Acts of Beauty,” published in 1993, was full of examples of just those two things. The phrase was suddenly everywhere — I remember a church discussion group on the topic — and then just as suddenly it dropped from sight — a bit like bees buzzing, buzzing, buzzing and then silence. (Well, unless someone has been stung!)
That expression has been buzzing in my mind lately, perhaps because I’ve recently been the recipient of a random act of kindness and so has my grandson.
I was returning from my usual latte at Andy’s, and was about a block from home when my electric Go Chair suddenly went kaput. Thankfully, I wasn’t in the middle of traffic. I sat there for several minutes wondering what to do. I had my iPhone with me but I couldn’t decide who to call. Suddenly, an older man was at my shoulder and asked if he could help. He pushed my Go Chair up the block to my house and right into the garage, where I have a much smaller indoor chair. I thanked him and he smiled and said, “Glad to do it.” I’m sure he lives in my neighborhood but I’ve never seen him since.
I have a caregiver, Elizabeth, who comes at 8 a.m. weekdays to help me get showered and dressed. During that time, we share family stories and gossip. She is from Fiji and I’ve learned about life there, as well as the Fijian community here. And she has listened to my stories about my adored teenage grandson, Jasper.
I told her recently about a day he had spent with some friends learning to play golf. It was the first time he played and he was hooked. He requested golf clubs for his upcoming birthday. Since I think of golf as a sport for middle-aged men, I’m having a bit of trouble getting my mind around this.
I know the minute Elizabeth is at the front door. Our two dogs begin yapping. And yapping and yapping and yapping. This past Monday, there was the usual yapping and then silence. No sound of Elizabeth coming down the hall to my bedroom. Then, I heard the front door open again and the dogs began yapping again. What was going on? And then there was Elizabeth, with a wide smile on her face, helping me into my electric wheelchair, and motioning for me to follow her down the hall.
There, leaning against the front door, was a bag of golf clubs.
She had been surfing sales and freebies on Nextdoor when she stumbled across a set of golf clubs being given away. She drove all the way to Lucas Valley to pick up the clubs, which were outside the front door of a large house. When she went on Nextdoor the next day to thank Jasper’s golf fairy godfather, he even offered her golf balls.
Acts of kindness — for some people they come naturally.
Sunday I went to call Uber for a ride home after church only to discover my iPhone was dead. Yikes! There was nothing to do but go back inside and ask someone for a ride home. The person I asked said, “Of course,” without a moment’s hesitation, even though he knew he would have to deal with getting both me and my wheelchair into his car. That was an act of beauty.
Jill Holmes is a San Rafael resident. IJ readers are invited to share their stories of love, dating, parenting, marriage, friendship and other experiences for our How It Is column, which runs Tuesdays in the Lifestyles section. All stories must not have been published in part or in its entirety previously. Send your stories of no more than 600 words to lifestyles@marinij.com. Please write How It Is in the subject line. The IJ reserves the right to edit them for publication. Please include your full name, address and a daytime phone number.
