Ode to Random Acts of Kindness Day

Thursday Thoughts on Random Acts of Kindness Day

Parking my car one blustery April day, to head into a bank to get money to go to Boston to run in my first marathon, the wind was blowing hard. As a frail woman came out of the bank doors, a big gust of wind almost blew her over. Witnessing the alarm in her eyes, I approached to see if she needed help getting to her car. She nodded yes, so I extended my arm for her to grasp, but instead she interlaced her fingers into mine, like a boyfriend and girlfriend in the beginning of a relationship.

We walked gingerly towards her car hand in hand. By the time we got to her door; I shared the fact I was withdrawing money to travel to Massachusetts to run the Boston Marathon. She said, “What’s your name?” I told her “Tracy.” She said, “Well, Tracy, I am going to pray you are successful in the race because of your kindness today.” I gave her a hug, closed her door once her feet were tucked inside, and went into the bank smiling. I love being kind to strangers.

This feeling of kindness must have traveled with me to Boston, because two nights before the race, worried about completing it, I stopped eating. I knew I needed food to fuel my 26.2-mile run, so I walked to a pizza parlor and bought a medium pizza pie and salad. I sat down and ate only a quarter of the pizza and salad, figuring I would save the rest for later.

As I walked back to my hotel, I came upon a man looking through a trashcan for food to eat. I walked over to him without a thought and asked him if he wanted my warm pizza. He accepted my gift, thanking me. Not unlike the beggar in the Jim Carrey movie “Bruce Almighty,” where the city beggar morphed from his ragged look into God played by Morgan Freeman, this Boston man could have been God or just a simply hungry man needing food. All I wanted to be was kind in the moment.

On this annual Random Acts of Kindness Day, do something unexpected and nice for someone you don’t know and after you do, be kind to yourself too.