Today, with the help of my niece Katie, I completed my seventh random act, in honor of Dylan Hockley. I had bought a bunch of food to donate to the food bank, but they’re only open between 8am and 2pm during the week. So instead, I donated it at church tonight. This was in honor of Dylan Hockley, an autistic six year old who loved trampolines, spaghetti, and the color purple.
My sixth act was to leave two movie passes for the next people who came in. This is in honor of Ana Marquez-Greene, a six year old little girl who loved singing and dancing.
Shadow decided he wanted to get in on the giving… so my fifth act was to buy some goodies for our local animal shelter. This is in honor of Josephine Gay (“Joey”) – she was seven years old and was autistic and suffered from apraxia, a neurological disorder that affects motor skills, and could not speak. She loved the color purple.
In other news, my fourth act made Facebook – as it turns out, the barista that took my order for the person that I paid for in the Starbucks line knows Kati’s sister-in-law. She posted a picture of her drink with the note on it along with this:
Just had a complete stranger change my day, how wonderful is it that she is turning tragedy into improving the lives of others. Especially since the scare at Amador today I’m starting right now, in honor of #1 Charlotte Bacon.
It seriously makes my day that this is catching on. I’m so glad that I was able to do something small for someone that helped make their day just a little bit better!
My fourth act was to buy Starbucks for the person behind me in the drive through. This one was in honor of Olivia Engel.
My 3rd random act of kindness was to buy a book of stamps at the post office and leave it for the next person who comes in to buy one. The clerk at the desk kept asking me if I wanted her to tell the person who it was from – I had to explain my mission a couple of times!
This act is for Rachel Davino, a teachers aide who reportedly took the full force of the gunman’s attack in an attempt to shield her students. You’re a hero Rachel.
My second random act is for seven year old Daniel Barden. He played soccer, was on the swim team, and played drums. He was described as an old soul, who held doors open for others and was wise beyond his years.
I left a Starbucks gift card in a random conference room this morning.
This first random act of kindness is for Charlotte Bacon. Little Charlotte was only six years old and loved wild animals, her golden retriever, and the color pink. She wanted to be a veterinarian when she got older.
It’s not a big act, but hopefully it makes someone smile.
Today I read a really great article about a response to the Sandy Hook shootings. Earlier this week, Ann Curry wrote an article for NBC News that challenged everyone to do 26 random acts of kindness (#26acts on Twitter):
“Imagine if everyone could commit to doing one act of kindness for every one of those children killed in Newtown.”
What a fantastic idea. I love the thought of something great coming out of something so tragic. So, I’m in. Before December 31st, I will complete 26 acts of kindness. I’ll document them on this blog so that those of you who wish to join me can have some starting ideas.
Here’s the link to the article – I challenge each of you to participate in the 26 Acts of Kindness. Feel free to comment below and share what you’re out there doing!
This post is so incredibly hard for me to write. On the day that my sister went into labor, a twenty year old man walked into an elementary school in Connecticut and opened fire. He killed twenty children, ages six and seven, along with six adults.
As always with these terrible events, amazing stories of heroism and selflessness emerge. Teacher Victoria Soto died shielding her students with her body. A custodian ran through the halls to make sure the classroom doors were locked from the inside.
What makes me sad coming out of this is that now so many people are focused on changing gun control. Guns did not kill those babies, a man with serious mental issues did. Instead of trying to take guns away, we should be focusing on identifying and helping those with mental problems. People in their right mind don’t just walk out and shoot people in a movie theater, a mall, or a classroom. In fact, that very same day a man in China attacked twenty-two school children with a knife as they arrived for school. If someone wants to do something bad, they’ll find a way, whether it’s with guns, knives, bombs, or their bare hands. Even if we do better screening people before they can buy guns, those who want to get one will do so through other ways such as theft, the black market, etc.
I think the real problem here is our mental health care system. Instead of working on identifying mental health issues and treating them the same way we treat asthma, allergies, cancer, we create a stigma around them. We make it shameful and scary. We call them weird or loners. Our society needs to take a gigantic step forward and start taking a deeper look at mental illness. Instead of focusing on the tools, we need to focus on the actual problem.
I hope that some day we can live in a world where our children are safe at school, where teachers don’t have to sacrifice their lives to keep their classrooms safe. As I held my newborn niece, I thought about those twenty little children whose parents wouldn’t get to hold them that night. I hope our country wakes up and makes some big changes.
Down The Road I Go 