Give a Little Bit

Do you ever have days where you think, wow that was an amazing day?  They are the kind of days that cancel out 3 or 4 bad days because they are just that good.  Yesterday I had one of those days.

I was supposed to be cleaning, getting ready for company,but instead I visited with a friend who had moved into her new house.  Her name is Anna, and besides being super smart, supportive, and beautiful, she also lives in the most amazing house.

We have been trying to hook up since the summer when they first moved in, and it took until now for me to get over there and see it.  I came away from our visit thinking...I should tear my house down and start over, that's how truly gorgeous her new home is.  But even better than the house was the time we spent chatting, going for a walk, and just getting caught up.  Anna is a giver, she is someone who listens to what you have to say, gives wonderful advice, and shares with you what's going on in her own life.  We talked about dreams we have for 2012 and how we plan to make them all come true.

I'm lucky to have wonderful women in my life.  Strong, smart, and beautiful women, both inside and out, who I get to call my friends, and for that I will be forever thankful.

While I was visiting with Anna I mentioned that I was having trouble deciding if I should keep my dining room furniture or not.  It belonged to my grandparents, though it's not super old, it's Duncan Phyfe and so not my style anymore.  I explained that I had found the perfect china cabinet, that I really wanted to make a change, but that I felt horribly guilty about letting it go.

Anna said that maybe I should sell the furniture and do something good with some of the money, something that would honor my grandparent's memory and still allow me to get my new cabinet.  When I got home yesterday afternoon after having lunch with my son (another procrastination technique to avoid cleaning), there was a lovely email from Anna telling me to sell the furniture and she sent me a link.

The link, which I've posted at the bottom of this post, is about how people have been going to K'mart and paying off people's layaway accounts except for a few pennies.  They leave a few cents on the account so that K'mart's system doesn't close it out completely.  Then the people are notified that their accounts have been paid off, many of whom thought they wouldn't be able to get those items since they were delinquent on their accounts.

Mr. Tide and I watched the video together, getting teary eyed at the plight of some of these people and feeling sad at the thought of these people working so hard to provide a little bit of joy for their children or grandchildren but just not having enough to make it all work.

We always donate at the holidays, and all year long, but we really hadn't done as much this year as we wanted to.  So we hopped in the car, drove to K'mart and stood in line for almost an hour.  We were waiting for everyone to clear out.  When we first got to the store there were  plenty of people in line, some making payments, others paying off their accounts, but you have to be careful.  You never know if someone will see your giving as generous, or if it will hurt their pride that someone is trying to do a good deed, so we waited and then approached the cashier after everyone had left. 

We explained why we were there and told her that we wanted to pay off someone's delinquent account.  That we hoped she could look up an account where there were toys for a young child, someone who still believed in Santa.  She immediately smiled and said, "oh you guys are some of those people, I wondered why you were just waiting here for so long without coming to the register."   The girl working the register took her time, amazing really since we saw first hand how busy they had been all day.  She went through the list of delinquent accounts until she found one with toys, Dora the Explorer, etc. and said, this one looks like it's for someone with small kids.

She gave us the balance, and we paid all but 47 cents so that the account would stay active.  We then asked if they would call the family to let them know that they could pick up their items and she assured us she would.  She said she knew they would be thrilled, that the man on that account had been in the store that day and he wasn't sure he could pay it off by the 20th but he would try his best.

We don't know the people whose account we paid for, and they will never know us.  But they will know that someone reached out a helping hand, maybe when they needed it the most, and hopefully if they are ever in a position they will do the same for someone else.  That's the beauty of giving, it makes everyone feel better.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/anonymous-donors-pay-off-kmart-222535611.html