Human kindness

It continues to amaze me, although it really shouldn’t, how kind-hearted many people are. I suppose I get a little jaded by listening to the news with its stories of liars, cheaters, thieves and murderers. It’s difficult not to let the political jargon and rhetoric I’m bombarded with daily completely disillusion me and my perception of human goodness.

But many people are really good at heart—people I knew when I was in my teens and have recently re-connected with through modern technology; people I’ve never met but know only by their messages formed by a keyboard into a computer generating pixels turned into letters, formed into words and showing up as comments on a blog; perfect strangers I know only from reading their messages.

A writer from Canada who offered me reassurance when I worried about my little dog and the groundhogs—”Groundhogs tend to be pretty shy, and if the dog can’t get into the hole, it might be okay… all the same, it might be best to keep an eye on him while he’s outdoors,” William Kendall said.

Once a history teacher and now a writer from Florida who offered me advice when I was working on a model with my father, Carl D’Agostino said, “When the paint drys you will need a small razor knife to scrape the paint off areas that will be cemented together or the glue won’t stick and will make a mess. I have a suspicion that the 55 Chevy will become one of your most cherished possessions as time passes.”

A 60 year young dabbler in writing originally from Hawaii who responded to my post about tools for caregivers and said, “God bless your mom, and you for being at her right hand, ready to help, and comfort.”

A dog-lover from Canada who simply said, “You are not alone.”

Someone who tries to learn from life’s lessons encouraged me and said, “Hang in there. Its tough.”

A good friend who I don’t get to see nearly enough any more said, “1: You are entitled to a down day and 2: I bet if you thought about it you did quite a lot,” when I wondered where does all the time go?

A friend from high school who I probably haven’t seen since we graduated over 35 years ago wrote, “Oh old friend…I feel your pain,” when I whined about the senior services maze.

I could go on and on for quite a while.

I even received a digital photo file from a talented amateur photographer from the Czech Republic who I’ve been enjoying following. I liked a particular photo he posted and had commented on his blog that if I had that photo, I would hang it up somewhere. Rudolf Vlček sent me the photo file as an email attachment saying, “u said that u would hang it somewhere, maybe u weren’t serious but in case u were, here it is:-)”

So much generosity. So much support. So many kind words from people, some whose voices are distant memories, some whose voices I’ll never hear. So many kind words from virtual strangers, now virtual friends. Encouragement from people of good heart.

It’s amazing really.