"Remember there's no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end." -Scott Adams
About 11 months ago I got the news that my grandma had been diagnosed with breast cancer. About 9 months ago was her first surgery. She underwent 4 surgeries overall, intense physical therapy, 2 rounds of chemo, and 1 round of radiation.
A little over two months ago my grandma died.
The day after her funeral was my mom's birthday and 3 days after that was mine.
About 2 weeks ago I was sitting in the hallway next to my dorm room, talking on the phone catching up with a friend of mine. We hadn't spoken in a couple of months and we were just chatting about how school was going and how life had been for us. My grandma's death came up in our conversation. Her memory has embedded itself in my life. I think about her every single day. I ache for her. She was one of my favorite people in the world and suddenly she was gone, and I have had to try to learn how to keep going.
All of the emotions I've had for the past two months came rushing out. I cried to my friend over the phone and he listened patiently, offering condolences when necessary, and just trying to talk me through it. I tried to regain my composure when I heard the voices of some of my floormates coming down the hall towards me. They walked by, looked at me, but none of them said anything. I let out a deep breath when the doors to each of their rooms closed.
My friend and I continued our conversation and not long after, I heard a door open down the hall. One of my floormates made her way down the hallway, I presumed she was going down to the bathroom. I was mortified when I saw her veer towards me in my corner. I've only met her a few times at Weekly Tradition and I'm really shy around new people so I had no idea how to react to her coming over to me.
She knelt down and looked at me with a slight smile as she slipped a chocolate bar into my hand. "I hope you feel better." I looked up at her with my eyes wide and mouthed Thank you.
I don't know if my floormate will ever see this article, but if she does I'd like to take a chance to say Thank You. Even now, weeks later, I still think about this random act of kindness. I've been so low since the death of my grandma and that act of kindness brought a small light back into my life. You blessed me with a beautiful act of kindness that has gotten me through many days since. No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted.
"A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees." -Amelia Earhart
