Dear Little Man Who Held The Door Open For My Sister And Me,

You are going to go places. You are a true gentleman. Your mom is very proud of you, like she said after she saw you holding the door for us. The next generation is very proud of you too.

Who taught you how to do that? Your dad? Your mom? Did you see someone else doing it and thought it’d be cool to do that too? Well, wherever you learned it, keep doing it. You made my and my sister’s day doing it, and I believe you will make someone else’s day doing it in the future.

I’m going to let you in on a little secret, kiddo: You’re ahead of the game. There are lots of men who are 20, 30, even 40 years older than you who never go out of their way to open the door for anyone. Open the door whenever you get the chance, and don’t just open doors for pretty ladies; open doors for the man in the wheelchair and the woman with a baby in her arms. Open doors for humanity, and humanity may just open some doors for you (and not just the physical kind).

Seeing you smile while opening the door and seeing your mother smiling too sparked a curious joy in me. Your kindness was contagious, and it made me want to go out of my way and hold doors for people. It made me want to go out of my way and show others that I care about them, even if I didn’t get the chance to actually hold any doors open.

It made me want to find a man who would do the same for me, who would teach our son to do the same. If a boy your age can hold the door for me, I’d hope a man my age can do the same.

Want to know something else, dude? You made an impression on me and my sister like no one else had all week. We were smiling ear-to-ear the whole way to our car. We commented to each other just how great it was to experience that. You're the first boy your age to do that for us, and it was memorable. I'm not over-exaggerating, I promise.

I hope that you continue to show a gentlemanly nature as you grow up. I hope your actions don't end at holding doors, that you go out of your way to do other respectful and honorable things. Do them because people deserve respect, not because you want attention. Do them because you want others to know you care even though they may be strangers, not because you want to impress people. Don’t even do them just because your parents told you it’s the right thing to do; do them because you believe it’s the right thing to do.

Sincerely,

The Girls Who Still Have Hope In Humanity