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Well, a couple months back I arranged a cross state delivery, and adoption, for a kitten found in the local auto wrecking yard. About a dozen people and three businesses got involved to make it happen.
A younger friend is having some trouble making ends meet while she sorts her life out. We meet once or twice a month for lunch, just to talk and to give her a non-judgemental ear to bend.
A near lifelong friend's life has pretty much collapsed due to a job loss and no local friend/family support system to help out. He's the emotional type and isn't dealing well with the chaos. I told him a bus ticket will cost me less than $100 and I already own the couch he can sleep on for a while.
At some point it will come full circle, it always does.
An older friend’ s wife stopped driving after dealing with dangerous cancer- he became her everything from doing her laundry, grocery shopping and learning to cook for both of them as well as driving her to her book club, hair and dr appointments, etc, etc.
He did not have any presents to open on Christmas for the last 3 years as her life changed so drastically. She is very upset that her husband of more than 50 years does not have any package to open again this Christmas.
I offered to pick her up and drive anywhere she wanted to go so she could get gifts for her husband.
This Christmas he will have some packages to open - back to almost normal even if only for a few moments on Christmas morning!
I don't have a lot of resources to help people financially, but:
A friend of mine from another country was looking all over for a certain rare book. I managed to find it at my university's library. She was awfully pleased that I thought of her, but she had managed to locate a copy on her own. Anyway though, we can both read and discuss the book now.
My cats are both rescues who had to endure very bad conditions before they got to me.
Today must have been "Let Someone Into Traffic Day" around here. I was out doing errands all day and I have never had so many people let me into their lane. That put me in a good mood and I tried to pass it along as much as possible. I think Good Cheer is in the air.
I’m having issues with my Envoy with a parasitic battery drain. A couple of days ago I was out at the store around 9pm, with the dog in the car & my son (who is 14 & disabled).
When I got back out to the car I noticed a homeless man wrapped in a blanket out front. It was really cold (19 degrees) & sure enough the dumb car wouldn’t start. I really, really hate asking people for help. Especially at night, asking strangers in a dark parking lot for help? I’m afraid they would probably think I’m trying to bum money or something.
I put the hood up to use the jump starter I keep in the car. My fingers were going numb quickly & again, the car wouldn’t start. It was just too cold even with the jumper.
The man in the blanket says “Hey ma’am ... do you need a jump?” And I was thinking “I must have misjudged him if he has a vehicle here ...” He said “Dont worry, I’ll get you a jump!” & proceeds to start hustling people to help me!
“Hey can you give this lady a jump start? She’s got a kid with her & it’s getting pretty cold!”
And he did get someone to help me very quickly. It’s kind of funny because I would probably have sat there in the cold for another 10-15 minutes before being brave enough to ask anybody. He said “See; I told ya I could help!”
I only wish I would have had a few dollars left to give him. Oddly, he never asked for a dime & I’m a person who typically gets approached by every panhandler around.
I’m confident I’ll catch up with him soon though, I’ve seen him “around” before.
My son's friend who would otherwise have been homeless lived at my house for four months. He's packing now. His workman's comp checks were totally goofed up, and he was tossed out of one rental situation. The next place, the guy who owed him $500, was a total sty. That lasted two weeks. He owes me some utility money.
I don't want to see anyone sleeping on the street.
One year I was saddened by a couple in a breakfast place. They were old, looked very poor by their clothes, but also sad. Whether they needed the money was kind of secondary to the SADNESS. I thought they needed some cheer, so I told the waitress to put their bill with mine.
She wasn't supposed to tell who, but she did and they were lit up with smiles and thank yous and bless yous. I think my goal of cheer was achieved. And I think they did need that money for other things.
We gave a holiday bonus to the (only) waiter at our favorite restaurant--the tip was more than the bill.
Made and gave away 5 batches of cookies and candy (though last year, we made about 12 batches)
gave cash to those annoying bell ringers. that always seems a bit counter-productive.
Others are also feeling the holiday spirit:
A stranger held the door open for me.
A couple of people said "excuse me" --at Walmart!
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