I have volunteered to be part of the Kindness Project, sponsored by the southeast Houston Community College, which pairs freshman students in their Honors College with senior citizens to spend one hour a week for ten weeks in conversation. One of the responsibilities of the seniors is each session to relate an example of kindness they have given, received or observed. Here are my first two examples:
When I was working full time and taking night classes at UH, I experienced an act of kindness I've never forgotten. One evening after class my car died at the corner of Scott and McGregor, the worst place I could think of to be stranded alone at night. I managed to maneuver the car into a service station, which was closed for the night. Here I was in those pre-cell phone days in a dark parking lot. I had no choice but to scurry over to the pay phone near the station's door and call my husband to come and get me. As I turned back to my car, a young boy of around twelve or thirteen appeared beside me. "Are you okay, lady?" he asked. I told him what had happened, and he said, "I'll stay with you till your husband gets here", and he did. He stood by the car window and we talked; I can't remember what we chatted about, but his company made me feel safe. I offered him some money, but he refused. He said he was just being nice. When I thought of acts of kindness, his was the first that came to mind.
When I was a junior in college, my dress caught fire from a gas heater and I spent three months in John Sealy Hospital in Galveston being treated for third degree burns. When I was finally discharged after being confined to bed for all those weeks, my hair had grown long, thick and tangled. My best friend Sonia's mother came over one afternoon and cut my hair. I remember sitting in front of the mirror in my blue and white checked nightgown and watching clumps of hair fall to the floor. That act of kindness made me feel almost well gain. That's another experience of kindness I've never forgotten.
To be continued...
