Rules

I work for a small company about 14 mi from my house.

In an effort to exercise more and to save a little money, I bought myself a rowing machine figuring it would pay for itself in fairly short order as opposed to joining a gym.

It arrived, and I found myself with it with a problem. How am I going to get it put together?

Now, I had become friends with the guy who sits in the cube next to me. We're still in touch even though he's left the company, but he was a work friend, nothing more. Married, with a family of five, but an all-around great guy. We shared jokes, memes, he made a sometimes dull job fun.

The day after my rowing machine arrived, I asked him if he had ever used taskrabbit. He told me he hadn't, and asked me why.

I told him my situation.

It's mportant to note that I trust this man implicitly. In no way was my trust abused.

He told me to give him my keys and my address. He already kind of knew where I live because one of his daughters lived around the corner.

I told him this was too much, not necessary, and I would figure something out, but he insisted. Finally, with no other choice, I thanked him profusely and told him there was beer in the fridge and to help himself.

On his lunch hour, he drove to my house, let himself in, and assembled my rowing machine. He even took the box and put it in my storage shed for me.

He called me when he was done and asked me where I wanted it, I told him, and that's exactly where I found it.

I consider him to be another brother. We're still in touch, sharing videos and checking in on each others families.

I bought him a gift card for a local restaurant so he could take his wife to dinner. Not for the first time, I told her how lucky she was to have such a wonderful husband. It was a lot of work to get him to accept it, but eventually he did.

I live on a fairly trafficked street, particularly at rush hour. College town, lots of apartments around. Sorority row. You get the picture.

This morning, on my way out the door, my pup followed me. He likes to explore, and I couldn’t block him, try as I might.

I try to shepherd him away from the street, at least, but he got into the street so I start darting out in traffic, too. I’m afraid of him being hit by a car, not so much of being hit myself. I’m much more visible than he is, and basically will do anything to protect him.

Two separate people stopped to help me get my boy back safely. I cannot adequately express my gratitude.

My boy is my furbaby. I’m a cancer survivor who can’t have kids as a result of my treatment, and I desperately wanted kids. He is not only helping me come to terms with that, he also helps me with day to day stress and anxiety management. He is, very literally, a lifesaver, and this morning, two random strangers on their way to work and/or school were life savers, too.

Today at the trampoline park, I walked in at the same time as a mother and her kiddo. No one was at the front desk, so I headed to the restroom. When I returned, I noticed the mom talking to the cashier, saying, "Can you try again?" I’ve been in that exact situation, so I figured her card was being declined.

As I was looking for some candy, I could see the worry on her face as the card was declined a few more times. I overheard say “I know there is money on there” - but if you’ve been in this spot you know the feeling of hoping you can overdraft and then cover it (or maybe my assumption is incorrect but that’s the vibe I got)

At that moment, I decided to step in. I interrupted and said, "Hey guys, sorry for taking so long. I wanted to grab this chocolate. " I then asked for four tickets (basically an entrance fee with socks) as I was with my nephew. I turned to the kid and asked if he wanted any candy, and he grabbed a Snickers. I said, "Go ahead and grab two for your mom as well." I then turn to the mom and told her, "Don't worry, it was my turn to pay. You covered it last time," so the cashier would think we were friends. After we got our socks, she thanked me again, and gave her kid a high five..

The mom looked utterly shocked and confused. I told her to grab a seat and that I’d be there shortly (I tried to keep it as normal as possible). As I grabbed the receipt, I went to the opposite side of the arena to play “video games”. I did not want to make it awkward for them and wanted them to go about their day. She walked over to say thank you again as her bills had piled up and she thought she’d have 1 more day before they clear. I told her no need to explain and I hope they enjoy their day.

Later, while jumping with my nephew, I took a moment to look across the room. I saw the mom and kiddo laughing and having a great time. I even saw the kid having fun while his mom watched with a smile.

That alone made everything worth it.

I don’t write this to get praise or get a pat on the back. I’m sharing this because I want anyone reading to realize how much a small gesture can brighten someone’s day. We often forget how blessed we are with things others can only wish for.

EDIT: i am reading absolutly ALL of your comments, thank you for beig kind. Example: when giving someone roses you pick the thorns off.

I am a volunteer at my kids’ school so I know the staff a little, but haven’t gotten to know my son’s new second grade teacher too well yet since they just started a couple of weeks ago. Well, I’d emailed to let her know I was having surgery so my kids would get picked up by relatives for a while. The next day, which was when I had my surgery, my son came home with a card and treat from his teacher for me. I owe everything to these wonderful humans who spend the day with my kids, and she is doing a kind thing for me?! Really makes me feel good knowing my son is in good, kind hands every day at school. I’m so grateful to her.

I work at a Charity Resale shop. (US based. That means this is a thrift or resale shop that directly supports and is part of a local nonprofit organization benefitting the community. Not goodwill or another chain.) Yesterday while taking a shift at the register, I was doing my usual customer service thing, which often includes compliments on purchases/finds, and the like. In this case it was one of those oversized cheroa fleece hoodie things, and I was saying great find, and she "beat me to it". She's a regular, we chat quite a bit when she's shopping. She asked me if I wanted it, and I was all "no, you found it" and all that, (and instantly thinking how I should have said that differently, like sometimes I'll say "ooh , love a good cashmere", or "Nice, a Patagonia, and for that price? What a find" yk, that kind of patter). But then she insisted on buying it and giving it to me. Y'all. I'm blown away. She was buying it as a "back up gift", but I still felt guilty and overwhelmed with gratitude by turns. (over a $9 item). It was just so sweet and unexpected.

My sister, her husband and their daughter have been visiting us from the UK for 3 weeks, and today is their last day. They don't leave until the evening and had to leave their AirBNB early, so they came to our place this morning. We went out to lunch and my niece (5yo) was clearly sad about it being the end of their holiday, as well as having been up early. She didn't seem to want anything for lunch and was basically slumped over the table, completely disinterested and in a low mood.

There was a table of three people nearby who were celebrating the birthday of one of them, a young woman (couldn't tell her age; curse her excellent Asian genetics, lol). They'd obviously bought a set of 4 chocolate cupcakes and each had one after their lunch.

While my niece and brother-in-law were off to the nearby park while waiting for the food to come, the young lady brought over the last cupcake in its packaging and offered it to my sister to give to my niece. I'm not sure if she had noticed how down my niece was, or if she just saw a random child and figured she'd like a sweet, but it was an incredibly kind thing to do.

**title edit: with Three Pink Roses

When I was fourteen years old I became very ill. After a couple years of doctor and hospital visits I was diagnosed with Lupus in my brain. We decided to go ahead with aggressive treatments to try and boost my immune system and even chemotherapy. The treatments were not only hard on me but they were also difficult for my family, who is very close, to go through. One summer day a few years after i fell ill, we received a letter from the Make A Wish Foundation that stated that they would like to grant a wish of mine! We were ecstatic! I knew that all I wanted was to do something with my family, because this hardship of an illness didnt only have an effect on me.

I asked to go to New York City and see some broadway shows. I had never been and my whole family are fans of the theater. When I was cleared to fly, we set off on a New York winter adventure full of seeing all the sights, RENT, Wicked, staying in times square, and the added bonus of seeing my uncles, who had lived there a majority of my life. The trip not only brought my family back together, but it was an amazing week of pure joy.

One of the most amazing moments could have never been planned. My mom, dad, two brothers, and uncles were walking back towards Times Square after a busy morning exploring the city and my older brother was pushing me in my wheelchair. We were slightly ahead of the rest of our brood when we noticed two men dressed in all black walking towards us. It was clear that one of the men was leading the other because his companion was vision impaired. The man was carrying some flowers, but I didnt pay them too much attention. I had turned around in my chair to say something to my brother, when all the sudden my chair stopped and the gentlemen were right in front of me. They bent down to hand me three beautiful pink roses and simply stated with a bright smile spread across his face, “You need these more than I do, Have a beautiful day.”

Before anybody in my family could catch their breath and realize what had just happened, they were gone. I wanted to thank them. We looked around and all the sudden it had seemed like the once busy street we were on was completely empty. I hadnt been feeling well at all that day, but I put a smile on my face and told my family I was okay to go on with our plans, when in reality I had just wanted to stay in the room and rest, even though I had felt that I needed to push myself to do more than sit in a hotel room and feel ill. The men may have just seen a girl with no hair being pushed in a wheelchair, or they might have seen the pain in my eyes but the smile on my face, but the fact of the matter is that they saw something in me that made them put happy tears in my eyes and a smile in my heart.

The mysterious men in black were my sign that everything was going to be okay and that my journey was going to be a tough one but I had the capabilities to handle and deal with my illness on my own terms. Ever since I was shown that simple kindness from over 10 years ago, I have lived my life like I have wanted and persevered through my health challenges. I knew that day when I was handed those roses that I should never stop fighting to live my life to the fullest extent the way I wanted, and I have. I now spend a good portion of my time giving back to those who ‘need it more than I do’

This last year+ of my life has been brutal.

I've never had an "easy ride" but always thought my life was normal in terms of ups and downs. Honestly, I don't like to tell people much because, even to me, it sounds like a bad scam in the making. side note: it's awful that society has fallen so hard with scammers that we are unable to be truthful about our situations in fear of being labeled. But it started with losing the ability to walk suddenly and has gone downhill in so many ways since then.

This was left on my doorstep one day. I'm not sure by who but it's someone who knows me and what I'm going through. This small gesture means the absolute world to me right now and makes me cry over a pickle.

I remember when I first met my friend. We were coworkers. From that initial meeting as coworkers, we’ve become the best of friends. You have been there for me during many ups and downs of my life, especially lately. You sacrificed so much of yourself for me when I had my brain surgeries. You realized that I don’t have a large support system and helped me through one of the most terrifying and painful times of my life. In many aspects, you’ve been a maternal figure in my life. Wiping away my tears, giving me hugs and words of encouragement, caring for me while I’m hospitalized.

My ups and downs of encephalopathy were not faced alone. Whether you have been by my side or miles away, you’ve always shown your support and kindness. You forgave my mood swings because you know that my head wasn’t always a kind place for me to live in. You pour into me strength, kindness, and joy. You have helped me find meaning in life when life was meaningless. Overcome by my suffering and despair, I was ready to die. Yet, with your encouragement, I persisted through complications and medical interventions.

You personify courage, beauty, and strength. I hope I can grow and be as wonderful person as you are someday. I love you to the moon and back.

-Your Sunshine

Just wanted to wish YOU,

The very best day ever! I know times get more than tough, but don't give up! Your still here, and you have made it this far! You are a strong individual. You deserve self-love, self-care, and to spread the same to others. Keep being the BEST VERSION OF YOU, that YOU can be ❤️. I made this little thing to encourage POSITIVITY, and to let YOU know that YOU ARENT ALONE. No matter what you are facing. If you can't do this, that's okay, if it's personal, write those things and label the subject personal (example: I want to better "Personal" within myself so I can do subject). YOU know what your talking about, and it's totally up to you to share that within yourself or with others. PLEASE FILL THIS OUT IN THE COMMENTS; SHARE A STORY LIKE I DID, USING THE EXAMPLES I HAVE LAID OUT. I WANT YOU TO DO THIS TO CONFESS YOUR STRENGTHS TO YOURSELF AND FOR OTHERS TO BE PROUD ALONG WITH YOU.

Be STRONG. Be KIND. Be POSITIVE ❤️💪🏼

I want you to comment one thing that is POSITIVE about YOURSELF, and then one thing that's POSITIVE about SOMEONE ELSE (family member, friend, loved one), one thing you LOVE about YOU; and last but not least comment one thing you feel you need to BETTER YOURSELF or improve with!!! What is that goal??

Remind yourself this is a ever evolving and changing life. We aren't in control all of the time, but we are in how we respond ❤️

Here's mine!

1.I suffer PTSD and Agoraphobia due to captivity and abuse than spanned more than 15 years, I'm proud of myself for the person I've become despite this, and despite the fears and flash backs, Truama it's left me with. 2. I adore and cherish my friends and loved ones who are so special to me. That love me, and are there for me during this hard mental health issue. Despite not having alot of friends in person due to circumstances of my Agoraphobias fears, I am blessed to have amazing Friends in the Internet community, the large Facebook page I created and manage, and the Doll Community as well. I love how unique of individuals they all are, and how strong they are also, for still thriving despite their hardships! I am blessed! 3.I love that I am in thealy 3 to 4 times a week by choice to try to battle this PTSD and the Anxiety and fears I have. By choice. Voluntarily to try to grow and better my life, and take on a world I was sheltered from for a long time. As much as a coward as I am, I can be courageous as well. 4.i want to improve my Agoraphobia, so that I may go out places more, be in bigger crowds, and not be as fearful of people, places and things. I need to better stay focused on this journey I am taking. And making little reminders like these to show myself how far I have come!!! ❤️ 5. My goal is to one day to be free from my Anxiety and Fears, to walk out anywhere I want with no desire to hide or be on high alert. And to be kinder to myself, and stop blaming my mental health issues on myself. To accept what has happened is not my fault or doing.

Thanks for engaging in this activity. I'm helping myself while helping you, and that feels sooo good!!! Please feel free to share this anywhere you want. But credit (Kelly Ferguson) as the creator of this story maker/empowerment reminder.

Have a BLESSED DAY my FRIEND 💗🙏🏼

Hey everyone! I posted this thread initially asking for help finding ways to reach out to seniors experiencing loneliness, and thankfully, the responses were super helpful.

I erased my original inquiry to post this update instead for everyone who expressed interest in doing the same. Below is a link to one website a user suggested that runs a pen pal program for Seniors, and I plan to update again in the future if I find more. Thanks so much for all your input and responses!

If you'd like to consider also writing to seniors, you can check out Project Pen Pal at this site. Go to the options tab and select Project Pen Pal for info!

Like cute stickers? A $5 Starbucks card? Just a nice note?

There’s this guy I know who’s been going through a tight spot financially. A couple of days ago, I took him out for lunch. There are food pantries around, but sometimes a meal that someone else cooks, or that isn’t just to get by is healing for the soul.

This lady was a guest where I work and she offered me her leftovers from her supper today, rather than throwing it out. She ordered too much and thought of a complete stranger rather than throwing away food. Thank you.

To the guy who offered to be my 2nd ID at the Starbucks Roastery on Saturday, I sincerely apologize for not saying "thank you" for bailing me out. What you didn't know was I was having an anxiety attack of epic proportions, and while I was trying to contain it, I was losing quickly. What you didn't see after i walked away was my wife trying to console me as I was breaking down. I should have bought you a drink. I appreciate your small act of kindness to an out-of-town stranger who felt like an asshat.

A little bit of backstory:

I rarely see my brothers. They are from a different mother, live in a different state, and are over 10 years younger than me. Despite this, I’ve tried really hard to keep a good relationship with them because I wanted them to experience as much of a family as possible (I had a very lonely childhood due to broken families and lack of my own siblings). This was a letter that my brother wrote to me that I’ve made sure to preserve. I had a pretty bad day today and was needing some comfort, so I began to go through my things. Upon rereading this letter, I promptly burst into tears. I remember exactly how emotional this made me when I first received it.

Translation for kid handwriting and spelling: “Dear Hannah, I love when you make those funny faces and I love when you hang out with me. Love Lincoln, I’m so happy that you’re here.”

Those ‘funny faces’ that he mentions are my tics. They are just some simple motor twitches that I have little control over. Sometimes I will make strange faces and I’ve been bullied about them for practically my entire life.

It was something so simple, but I think this was the first time anyone had ever referred to them as a good thing. He didn’t understand them at the time, that I didn’t do them on purpose, but that didn’t matter to me. He liked my funny faces, so why couldn’t I? His one little sentence about how he loved the faces I made managed to change my entire perspective on my disabilities.

Just thought I’d share. It’s been a few years since I received this, yet it still hits me with a wave of emotion every single time I go to read it. I hope one day I will be able to explain to him how much this little letter meant to me. Now that I’m in a sappy mood, I decided I should share this story to you guys as well.

It goes to show that even the simplest comment can change someone’s entire outlook.

I went over to this guy's house because he was going to replace my lawnmower blade and he works out of his garage. He looked like a good ol boy with overalls and a cigarette dangling from his lip.

Two dogs came out to greet me. While I was watching him work, I told him about my brother, who is always rescuing dogs who are abandoned near his home.

"I saved that one," he said, pointing to a red female pit bull. "Someone threw her out of the car on the highway and I stopped and gave her mouth to mouth and until she started breathing again. She hasn't left my side since."

I almost broke down in tears. This rough-looking guy gave a random pit bull mouth to mouth and took her in. You never know what form angels are going to take.

I was driving to California during a heat wave. My A/C was broken, and my dog was panting like crazy in the back seat. She had cancer, and the medication made her pant a lot. As I was filling up at a gas station, a lady next to me said hello, and mentioned that my dog would be cooler if I got a bag of ice, wrapped a towel around it, and put it under her. I could tell she was afraid she'd offend me, but she didn't. I was so grateful for any way to make my poor dog more comfortable. She loved the bag of ice, too.

I was flying with my 20 month old daughter and 7 year old son. We were all boarded and ready to go when they announced a 1.5 hour delay. So we sat there on the plane with my almost 2 year being absolutely miserable and we weren’t even in the air. I guess I’m the idiot that was so certain she would nap on the plane since it’s nap time. 🙄 by the last hour she was full blown screaming and I was trying to hold it together more for the sake of my 7 year old son. It was his first time flying and he was so excited. It was a horrible flight trying to calm my baby down and keep her “happy”. After landing an older gentleman looked at me and said “I remember those days, it will be okay”. I tried not to crying my eyes out. Those words went a long way for me. So whoever you are- thank you, again. Toddlers and vacations really stress me out. 🥂 Now wish me luck for the flight home. 🥺

Update: she did a lot better on the flight home. Thank you everyone. I read thru each comment and it was helpful and encouraging. 🕊️❤️

Anyone who actually needs a bite to eat please lmk & I can order for you

I put my washing in a dryer and it ate my money and didn’t work. A young lady tried paying with her app but the dryer was dead.

I moved my washing to another dryer and she put enough money in to get my load dry. It was so sweet. I tried to give her the money but she refused.

I’m truly touched by how kind she was.

If she sees this- thank you so much

I'm sure everyone remembers the 2011 Tohoku earthquake in Japan that caused the Fukushima disaster. I had arrived in Japan only three days before the earthquake and was doing work training for my new job, with a group of people I'd known for about 24 hours. I'd never been in an earthquake before, but we were on the ground floor and outside you could see the ground was rolling like waves. There was a guy from California there - I can't remember his name - but he must have known how serious the situation was. Apart from our Japanese trainers, he would have had enough experience of earthquakes to know this was Very Big. But he put away his own fear, and he lied to us: "don't worry, it's not that big an earthquake. It'll be over soon and everything will be okay." He kept up this reassurance through those long minutes when the building shook so hard we couldn't stand up. Afterwards we knew something terrible had happened, but in that moment this man put away his own fear to reassure us and I'm forever grateful to him <3

I typically buy a bus ticket with a month's value on it and sometimes at the end of the month there's still credit left. I was walking home one day and I saw an unhoused person, older, wasn't walking very well. I pulled out my bus ticket and said "Sir, take this, it has about 2 round trips left on it to help you get to where you need to go."

And this old man, with all his stuff in a shopping cart, moving slow as molasses down the street on a hot summer day said, "But how you gonna get home?"

I told him I'd walk, that it was just up the street and it wouldn't take long. To which he responded, after taking the bus ticket, "That's good. Everybody deserves to go home."

I went to walk into a store and almost ran into a sihk man and his granddaughter, I had come from around the corner and there was no way for either of us to know. When I said I was very sorry, he replied with no, no, no, you are a good person and put his hand out to shake. I again apologized profusely, shook his hand and then his granddaughter gave me a hug. She was about my daughters age and I’m out of town on work and have been consistently for the last few months. I wanted to start crying right there. Every time I think that most people suck, somebody proves me wrong. This world is better than we give it credit for.

So I have two cats. I've had them since they were kittens and they just turned 5 last month. I love them with everything. They are perfect little princesses, and I strongly believe in certain standards when it comes to raising cats and have been blessed and rewarded for my efforts for the deep bonds I have with my girls. They are Cleo and Girlfriend (real names lol, they are cats).

It's August now, and Feb of 2023 we were informed my husband would be deploying for over a year, starting in July of 2023. Yes, he is still deployed.

So June of 2023 comes around. We are preparing for his departure. Then Cleo got sick. Like, really, really sick, on a Friday. We called the vet, they gave us some instructions and told us to call Monday if she was not getting better.

She got worse. Vomiting green bile everywhere and stopped eating.. Her body became limp. On Monday we take her to the vet. We live in a very rural area, their vet is 45 min away one way. So we take her and they're telling us the 4 year old normally healthy cat had a fecal obstruction and they're thinking diabetes. Husband and I thought this was strange. So we take her home with the appetite medicine. Monday night she started hiding to die. Tues we call back and they tell us call back tomorrow (weds) if there's no improvement. My cat was going into septic shock.

I'm close with both girls but cleo and I are much closer and we are soul mates. Losing my husband AND MY BEST FRIEND like... I was hysterical and panicked.

Weds we bring her in. They tell us she needs to be hospitalized. Since this is a vet in the country, they don't do overnights so we would be responsible for going to the vet at their opening and closing to transfer her back and forth to the emergency vet that was open only overnights.

Cool. By this point in the game we've spent our cash assets and my husband liquidated his small online ebay visit to come up with deposits so far.. We had both maxed out our credit.

My mom was raking me over the coals doing this "it's just a cat."

Anyway weds night when the day vet closes we get down there and do the first transfer to the overnight emergency vet.

The E-vet calls around 8. Told us they didn't think diabetes either and redid every single test we had already paid for at the regular vet and AHA. They found it. She had an obstruction that had made its way out of the stomach and got stuck in the small intestine. They told us she needed immediate lifesaving $4 k surgery, like, days ago. They asked if we wanted to come in and say goodbye just in case and they asked us to bring $2k for the deposit on surgery. We had just handed them over most of the last of our cash just for the overnight stay.

So... We got the heck down there. We said goodbye. I was losing it in the waiting room just crying. Folding on myself. Crying for my dying baby and for my husband.

We give them what we have and told them we were working on getting the rest, and they expected the rest in the morning at 7:30 when we would need to come pick her up and take her back to the normal vet.

They call us at 3:30 AM. She made it through surgery. The small intestine tissue between the stomach and obstruction became necrotic, and they had to remove it and reattach.

They also told us - - - - someone in the emergency waiting room heard our plight while waiting with their very sick pet and paid off the balance of surgery completely leaving $600 for the other care she was going to need.

I lost it. We didn't have that money yet. But my baby recovered. It gave us time that my husband was able to take out a loan against his retirement and we were so lucky when the vets in our area said yeah we are not equipped to provide we she needs and I drove her that Friday 300 miles to a specialty animal hospital. She was septic and nearly died. They couldn't give her the IV food she desperately needed so we had to go to the hospital.

But my best friend soulmate with pica is alive. She is my best friend. She is my heart. I love her. And these angels bought us enough time to keep doing the procedures to save this young baby's life. She is my joy. I am so blessed to receive her love in such abundance.

Thank you to the angels. My mom mocked and berated me for wanting to save my best friend and some strangers that didn't know me from anything, with inflation being crazy, were instrumental in saving my best friend's. Gratitude cant even begin to describe it.