What Was the Kindest Deed You've Ever Done in Your Life?
By MrKennedy
@MrKennedy (1978)
September 9, 2009 11:19am CST
I want to hear the most generous, self-less and memorable (for its sheer level of kindness) act you've ever performed in your entire life. Whether it be save a life, or simply help an elderly lady cross the road, I want to hear your kindest deed, MyLotters.
For me, it has to be during my teenage years. Back then, at age 15, I was a paper-boy. It wasn't fancy, yet at least it provided money. There was this one customer in particular, a man in his late 70s. Now, from what I understood, this man lived alone, his wife having abandoned him 20 years earlier for a younger partner. What affected me the most, however, was the fact that this man had no family who bothered with him. They never visited, they never contacted him, they just weren't interested in him.
Near Christmas time, the man gave me a tip for the festive season. After thanking him, I began to walk away, until the elderly man summoned me back, and asked if I wanted a warm drink, since it was absolutely freezing outside. Apprehensive at first, because of the whole "Stranger Danger" thing that had been nailed into my head since my childhood, I finally accepted this man's offer.
From that day forward, I would visit the man for at 30 minutes each day, giving him the company nobody else would, making the few remaining years of his life slightly less miserable and unbearable. Gradually, I began to run small errands for the man, and help him in day-to-day life. Every time I was offered money, I refused. After all, this man had only very little remaining in his life, and it would have been dreadful to take whatever meagre amount of money he still had.
Several months down the line, the elderly man stopped answering his door. "Perhaps he no longer needs me," I thought, me being the optimist I am. "Perhaps his mind is no longer how it used to be, and he has forgotten who I am." However, the truth was a far more bitter pill to swallow than I had originally intended.
I discovered, from the Manager of the Retirement Home the elderly man resided at, had passed away a fortnight ago, in his sleep. Utterly heart-broken, I held back the tears until I was in the privacy of my bedroom later that evening. No matter how mature I wanted to be, I sobbed uncontrollably, stifling the noise with my pillow.
Despite the sorrow I felt, I realised that I had restored a small ray of joy to the elderly man's final glum moments on this Earth, and had ensured he hadn't passed away the lonely, frail man he happened to be before I met him.
Now, it's time to share your stories of ultimate kindness MyLotters...
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