There are times that you do things for other people, just because you want to. Receiving anything in return is the last thing on your mind.
Something happened recently, though, to make me think that while these things may happen separately, they can be inextricably linked.
A few months ago, I made a couple desserts for a friend who was throwing a graduation party. It was something I could easily do. End of story.
Last month, my son got married at a resort in the mountains of New York state. We rented a whole bed and breakfast two miles away from the resort. It was big enough to house not only our family, but several others including relatives from Florida and Boston, and very reasonably priced.
It was right out of a storybook -- a big old country house with expansive porches and lush gardens and deer running through the yard. We shared breakfasts and down time and made a big Italian dinner in the huge country kitchen on the final evening.
The Boston couple couldn't resist the lure of a double bed on the screened-in porch. They slept out there to the light patter of rain one night and said it was heaven.
Meanwhile, the proprietress, Heidi, couldn't have been more welcoming. She lives in her own house up the lane and that was why we were able to take over the whole B&B.; But she didn't mind young children running around, or all of the cooking.
She joined us for pasta and wine that last night, and gave me a gift of a wind chime -- one of my favorite things, which she hadn't known. After we got home, I put together a package with some cherry stuff and a vintage apron -- another of my favorites -- and sent it to her.
Several days later came an e-mail saying that at the end of a long frustrating day, she had come home to find the package. Not only was she delighted with its contents, but it completely uplifted her frame of mind. She said she was deeply touched.
The next morning, leaving for the day and feeling stressed myself, I stopped at my own mailbox. Inside was a package from the friend for whom I'd made the desserts.
She'd found a T-shirt inscribed with "whatever it takes" -- the exact words I used for a Web site I started on doing whatever it takes to find a job and pay the bills in the current economy. It was perfect. And so thoughtful. My outlook was immediately improved.
Driving along then, I thought how we humans have the potential to be a bit like fairies. Separately spreading a little fairy dust, together we create a web of kindness and happy surprises that makes life just a little bit better -- for all of us.
Kathy Gibbons can at gibbonskath@yahoo.com. For more of Kathy's columns, log on to record-eagle.com/kathygibbons.
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