The good guys thread

[kuhio98]

Christmas kindness
One year when my 4 children were young ranging from about 5 to 15, I had been unemployed for over a year and there were no prospects. It was approaching Christmas and we had talked to the kids telling them that this year there would be no gifts to share with each other. They were great about it and they all accepted it without complaint. I have always felt that no matter what your religion Christmas is a magical time of year and should be about love and kindness but this year I was really down. I had always enjoyed Christmas as a child and my parents had never failed to provide a wonderful Christmas for me so I was really feeling down that I was not going to be able to do that for my children this year. One night about 3 weeks before Christmas we were sitting at home not doing much and the doorbell rang. We went to answer it only to find no one there but a white envelope lying on the doorstep. We opened it and inside were $750 dollars cash with a note that said "Merry Christmas from someone who loves you." We never did find out who did that for us but it was one of the best Christmas we ever had. To repay that act of kindness for us the next year I was working and we knew of a family in our neighborhood who was in similar circumstances. We were still catching up from being unemployed for so long so we could not afford much but we scraped together $400 dollars and did the same for that family. This world is filled with so much anger and hatred and saddens me that we can't all accept one another as fellow human beings without having to display so much anger and hatred and judgment towards others. Random acts of kindness as appear here give me hope in our race as human beings.

[kuhio98]

My Neighbor Norman
My dear neighbor Norman is always so kind with his words. He is a true gentleman from the South. My husband and I noticed that he can't move around much anymore. On the weekends we shop for him and I always cook more to share with him. We noticed that he had a small TV and I don't use the one in my room so a few weeks ago we brought him ours. He can't stop thanking us. Now he can watch all the MGM in stereo. On Valentine Day I brought him a bunch of flowers. My dear husband noticed that his rug was torn and went to Home Depot and replaced it with tile. It is such a pleasure being with Norman. This all started 3 years ago when I noticed his traditional Christmas wreath was not on his door. We went out and bought one for him and one for us. He always makes my day.

[kuhio98]

Because One Family Pitched In When It Counted

"Last year, after months of pain and fatigue, I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia," says Kathy Beezley, of Fenton, Missouri. "I had barely been able to work, let alone clean and decorate for the holidays. So my sister Diane told me a few 'elves' were coming over to help. Imagine my surprise when 15 people showed up! My aunts, cousins, sisters, nieces, and mom came in a whirlwind of buckets, brooms, and cleaning supplies. What a wonderful Christmas gift."

[kuhio98]

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow...130055137.html

Marine returning home greeted by 6-year-old son who learned to walk while his dad was gone
In a heartwarming video that will soon be flooding email inboxes, Facebook walls and Twitter feeds, a U.S. marine returning home from Afghanistan is greeted by his 6-year-old son at a ceremony inside a school gymnasium. The boy, who had cerebral palsy, was unable to walk when his father, Staff Sgt. Jeremy Cooney, was deployed.
"While daddy was away, he learned to walk," Melissa Cooney, the boy's mother, explained on the WelcomeHomeBlog.com. "For his homecoming, we set it up for Michael to walk to his daddy for the first time ever! We kept the fact that he could walk a secret the whole time his dad was gone!"
"Your children are so very proud of you," an announcer tells Cooney, a father of six, over the gym's loudspeaker.

[kuhio98]

Love to Tip this Way

We were vacationing in Hilton Head, SC with our two youngest daughters (10 and 14) over the Christmas/New Year holiday. We had gotten a refund from our mortgage escrow of $500, totally unexpected money, and decided each of us would have $100 to give to whoever/whatever organization we wanted to. So we're having a great lunch and are being served by the nicest pregnant lady, who looks like she could have her baby at any moment. She had to have been exhausted, but was so sweet, great with the girls and just happy. So my husband said he was going to give his $100 to our waitress, just because here she was working RIGHT up to her due date, literally, and was still so genuinely nice and gracious. So we waited to pay the bill and left the $100 with a note saying how nice she had been and that we hoped she enjoyed being parents as much as we do. And then left really quickly so she wouldn't have the chance to return it. And the rule is we can't tell ANYONE about it because it's not about getting credit for you kindness. But since this is anonymous, I figured it didn't count.

[cassiesmom]

I won't paste the whole article here because of its length. But it is an article about a soldier stationed in Japan. He inherited a Japanese flag from his grandfather, who served in World War II. THe story explains where the flag might have come from and what the soldier hopes to do with it.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2...d-scott-bailey

[kuhio98]

Package for a Preemie
My daughter was born 6 weeks premature and had to be admitted to the NICU due to several complications. My wife and I spent day after day not knowing what to expect and felt utterly alone. We would spend every minute we could sitting next to our daughter's incubator only leaving late at night to sleep and come back the next day to do it all over again. Well one day we walked up to our baby's incubator and we noticed a nice little baby blanket that our baby was wrapped up with. Knowing that it wasn't a standard hospital blanket we asked a nurse where it came from and she said that a group of women bring in homemade blankets for the babies in the NICU just to say that they are thinking of them. We were blown away because although we never would meet these women we knew that there were others out there who cared for everyone of these little babies. That little blanket meant so much to us and we still cherish that blanket even today. This random act of kindness inspired my wife to show her love for the NICU babies as well. This past Christmas she put together presents for each of the NICU families including things such as a set of baby bottles, a Christmas ornament, lotion for the mommy, and of course a baby blanket. Although she will most likely never meet these babies or their families I was amazed at all the love that she showed letting these families know that in their time of need they are not alone.