In addition to those things, we have done lots of little random acts in our community. I was going to make a list of them and share them with you, so that you might be inspired to do something for others as well. But I don't want it to seem like we're doing this for the recognition. We've done lots of little things that honestly, I don't need to tell you about. I want my boys to love making others happy, without acknowledgement for a job well done. If you want to know more about what we've done, feel free to ask me, but there's no reason for me to make a list here.
I do, however, want to share what happened to us today.
We went to the library with the goal of giving a gift basket to the library staff. We use the library all the time, and enjoy its free programs, and wanted to recognize the people that make such a great service possible.
We gave our basket to the lady behind the desk, and then, each boy armed with a bag of mini candy canes, we went around the library handing them out to patrons and saying "Merry Christmas."
People were surprised, and smiley, and one lady told me how nice it was to hear the words "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays."
Before long, we ran out of people, and we had more candy canes left. So we decided to drive to the post office. We handed out candy canes to the people there, but we still had more! I guess not everyone was up and around town yet at 10:00 am?
So we walked downtown and handed them to people we passed on the street. We walked into the toy store and handed them out there. We went into the Re-Uzit shop and handed them out there.
Let me pause to tell you about this little guy.
He would literally spy a person, ask me, "What about she?" and when I gave the okay, he would RUN up to them, yelling, "Wait! Wait!" if they were walking away. Then, in a loud and cheerful voice, he would say, "Merry Christmas!" I can tell you, I don't think I've ever heard anyone other than Santa Claus say it with such enthusiasm. When they said "Thank you," he would respond SO cheerfully, "You're WELCOME!"
He is my ray of sunshine, and he lit up the WHOLE TOWN today.
We ran out of candy canes, and I could tell the boys wanted to do more, so we drove to the dollar store and bought more. Then we walked into the grocery store and handed them out to everyone we saw.
Thomas, again, would run up to people. Alex was more reserved, but still wanted to participate. He didn't want to give them to random shoppers, but wanted to give them to the Weis employees. Any time he saw someone in a Weis shirt, he raced up to them! Everyone was SO thrilled, the boys were even allowed in the breakroom!
They say money can't buy happiness, but you sure can buy a lot of smiles for a dollar!
Once we ran out, we headed home -- candy bags empty, hearts full.
I called my friend Megan to tell her about it because I was so excited, but didn't share on Facebook or anything else, because again, I don't want this to be about US.
But later a friend mentioned to me that she was at Weis at about 2pm (3 hours after we were there) and the cashier was still talking about these 2 little boys who were handing out candy canes! And somehow, even though I didn't tell anyone, my friend (who I don't even know well at all) thought it might have been me and my boys! I was blown away, there is an entire town full of families who could have done this -- the fact that her first thought was of us -- I can't even find the right words to describe how that makes me feel.
So, my point today?
There is obviously a LOT for us to be upset about in the world lately. We are fighting an uphill battle -- we can't take on all the evil and violence that exists.
What we CAN do is something small to make a difference to one person. WE can be lights in the world.
For ideas, visit this amazing blog that inspired me.
-- Holly
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