This is it. The final week of the Kindness Countdown!
I had planned on ending these 40 weeks of random acts of kindness with a Habitat for Humanity project in my county, a project I could continue working on long past my 40th birthday. Unfortunately, I've been told there is an issue with receiving the permit and that the project is on hold. (I'm on the list of volunteers to contact once the project is approved and am looking forward to lending a hand soon!)
After giving it much thought, I decided that my family and I would do a "best of" instead. I asked each of my children what their favorite activity has been this past year, added my own, and then we set off to make the days of others a bit brighter.
Week 16: Collecting Carts in the Cold
Our first stop was Costco. You may recall my son and I picked up all of the abandoned carts in the Costco parking lot back in January. In -2 degree weather (-21 degree wind chills).
While it wasn't as big of a sacrifice this week with weather in the comfortable 60s, we did a thorough job cleaning up the abandoned carts and also offered our services to those who had just completed their shopping. My daughters, who missed this random act of kindness earlier this year, were thrilled to join us this time and to lend a hand, sharing the experience.
Week 2: Cleaning Up Our Park
The next stop was cleaning up a park that is near and dear to us. It is our favorite (and often-frequented) frog-catching location.
We couldn't help but notice the trash that had accumulated in the river the last time we were there, so when my daughter suggested we clean up a park, we knew just which one we'd be working in. I feel bittersweet in telling you that we filled a giant yard waste bag of trash with plastic bags, bottles, cans, chip bags, pieces of insulation, fishing line, etc.
I hope the frogs, geese, ducks, turtles and fish all feel much more comfortable in their home. I know we will now enjoy visiting them that much more.
Week 6: Give and Take
One of the activities that moved me this year was hanging up the "take what you need" and "what will you share?" flyers...and driving around to the various locations the following week to check on their status.
We hung signs in four different places this week (a laundromat, coffee shop, ice cream parlor, and restaurant) and then, a few days later, went back to check on them.
As with the last time we hung up these signs, it was touching to see people acknowledge that they needed understanding, courage, love and healing. And equally touching to see others devoted to giving those gifts.
Downloads of the flyers are below...I encourage you to hang them up in your neighborhood...and share the gifts you can.
Week 27: Easter Egg Hide
We left plastic eggs at the various locations we repeated activities this week. My children love dressing up in funny costumes and when they saw stick-on fake mustaches at the store last week they asked if we could put them in the eggs.
We hid a few eggs in carts we returned to Costco. We put some in trees and on the playground at the park we picked up. And we hid a few at the locations we displayed the signs in this week. I hope everyone laughs and enjoys the mustaches as much as our family does when we wear them. (:
It was a busy week of giving and, as always, we had so much fun! My 40th birthday is Tuesday, only two days away. I'm going to be spending some quiet time later this week reflecting on this past year and what it has meant to me. I'm looking forward to sharing more of my thoughts once I've fully processed everything. For now, I will say this: It's been an amazing whirlwind, and I'm so very thankful for these memories and shared moments of giving with my family!
And I thank you all for sharing along in the journey! Thank you!
"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." - Winston Churchill
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