Monday, December 17, 2007

Bloggers unite in acts of kindness

Today, December 17th, Bloggers Unite is challenging bloggers everywhere to do an act of kindness, and then post about it.

I am not too sure I like to talk about nice things that I have done, but I will still go for it. I will mention a nice thing I have done long ago, and another one that is very recent. Then I will see what can I do today, and I will post about it at the end of the day.

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An act of kindness from... 25 years ago
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This one I won't forget about. For whatever reason, me and my brother decided to go to a retirement home in our native Necochea, and played and sang for the elderly residents there for a couple of hours. I don't think there was anybody there that we knew, and I don't even remember which songs we played, though I assume they were mostly old songs like the ones my father used to sing.

The conditions in which we saw the retirement home were terrible. Some things we observed were hard to believe. For example, they had a couple of coffins in an internal patio, they were being dried by exposing them to the sun. When I asked, they told me that they were 'previously used' coffins that were waiting for their new owners...

Anyway, we had a great afternoon playing for those very nice people and their joy and kind words for us was more than what we could have hoped for. We left with a mixed sensation, though, because we just could not believe the conditions they were living in after having worked their whole lives, but that's unfortunately common in my home country.


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An act of kindness from... a month ago
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Again this involves me going to sing to a retirement home, this time with my church choir. One of our fellow choristers, a wonderful gentleman -and minister emeritus- named Harold, lives there with his wife, and he was celebrating his birthday (89), his wife's birthday and their wedding anniversary (I think it was 65) on that same week. I was very busy that day, but still I went to the retirement home (which was at the opposite end of the town) with the best of the predispositions, because Harold deserves that and much more.

Of course, we had a wonderful time with the people there, and the only reason why I didn't stay longer with them was that some people were carpooling with me. I had always felt that Harold reminded me a lot of my grandfather Pepe, so in a way I felt I was celebrating with him. This happened to be the evening before Pepe's passing...
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So there you go, two little examples of nice things I've done in the past. I have a few others, like when I travelled to the north of Argentina to help fix a school that was at 4,000 metres above the sea level, or when I participated -along with many of my co-workers- of the "Operation Christmas Child" here in KW.

Go out there, and do something nice today. Help somebody, make a donation, pay a compliment, anything. But more importantly, try to do something nice every day.


17 comments:

  1. yep, kindness in the past and present will always be memorable :)

    Hahaha...BeeGees are icons! Thanks for liking my story & for the kind comment.

    Happy Holidays to you too! ^^

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  2. Our World needs more kindness for the many many people who are in pain! Keep up the good work! Cheers!

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  3. timlight, bokjae, thank you for your comments. I enjoyed both your stories very much as well.

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  4. Previously used coffins? Oh my word, how dreadful.

    I spent a great deal of time in retirements homes when I was a child because my mother helped to care for 3 of my aunts who were there. It know that it really lifts people spirits for groups to come in and sing or play the piano. It's a wonderful thing you do.

    Peace,
    Lisa

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  5. Hi Lisa, and thanks for your comment.

    The 'previously used coffins' thing was just terrible. Thinking of all these people walking the hallways, seeing the coffins drying in the sun and thinking "I might be using that one soon" still makes me shudder. I bet that they had been used for homeless or very poor people, and once they realized that nobody would pay for them, they just cremated the body and recover the coffin.

    Anyway, the challenge is still on, and I'm looking at random nice things I can do, so I can post about it later tonight. By the way, I'm on my way to do one right now.

    I liked your blog, I will read it in more detail tonight (shh... I'm at work now)

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  6. You are truly a wonderful soul if you can go into a retirement home for no other reason than to sing.

    It is so sad to see all the people just waiting to die. May God spare us the same.

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  7. Cybercelt, thank you for your very nice comment. You've just given me a great idea; I will see if I can take my family to a retirement home and sing Christmas Carols with them later this week!

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  8. Thank you for sharing those wonderful stories. I haven't spent any time at retirement homes, because in our culture most of the elderly stay with their children's family -- which can be good and bad at the same time.

    I remember celebrating my 18th birthday at an orphanage. There must've been like over 100 kids there. We sang, ate, danced. My mom even ended up adopting 2 kids. That was in '98. A year later that orphanage burned to ground. About 8 kids survived. It was tragic. But I still feel blessed that I got to spend time with them.

    What people don't realize is that sometimes, these orphans (both children and the elderly) want nothing else but TIME. Time with people who are willing to just sit down and stay with them for a little while.

    Again, great stories you got there. Sorry, I kind of got carried away myself. It just makes me so happy that there are people like you around. Happy Holidays to you and your family!

    Frizzy
    Manila, Phil

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  9. Frizzy, thanks for your comments, and what a incredible story you just shared with us. Same as your post, which I forgot to add to my favourite list (I will right away)

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  10. Ark of Hope For ChildrenDec 18, 2007, 8:04:00 AM

    Thanks for your post and your kindness to elderly people. I've had to have a relative in one and it was a lonely place at times. I'm sure you brought a bright light.

    I linked you in our post then I saw your lynky thing. Now if I can just figure out how to use it!

    Blair
    http://www.giveitakiss.com/blog/2007/12/18/want-to-have-an-amazing-christmas.html

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  11. Blair, your story was fantastic, and teaches you how nice and caring people can be... when they want to.

    I see you figured out how to use the Linky thing. I will start to use it more often.

    Thanks for your comments, highly appreciated.

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  12. I hear you. Lots of firsts since my grandfather passed in July. His first birthday without him, first Christmas without him...it is hard, isn't it. But it does get better. There's this song I used to listen to day in day out when he died. I actually did a post about it. It helped me move on. We will always have family and memories to console us, right? Here's the link, I hope it helps you, too...

    http://frenchkys.blogspot.com/2007/09/mix-tape-every-lament-is-love-song_9865.html

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  13. It's a story similar to mine, Frenchkys...

    I did a post about my grandfather as well. And it became a way for my family to celebrate his life... Especially those who, like me, my mother or my brother, are not in Argentina and couldn't be there for the funeral...

    It's going to be odd this Christmas, but he's more present than ever in our lives.

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  14. There are so many ways to give to others. Thanks for talking about this one.

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  15. Thank you for your very nice comment, homeschoolzoo.

    Have a Merry Christmas, and a happy, prosperous 2008

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  16. Hi.

    Great post and the perfect time of year for it. (Nice header banner too).

    You show not only that a simple gesture can have great impact on the person receiving it but also on the person giving.

    God Bless and Merry Christmas!

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  17. Styleswag, thank you very much for your nice comments, and for having visited 'my house'. :-)

    Merry Christmas to you too!

    My banner changes all the time, by the way. A new one will be uploaded tonight.

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