Kindness

 

Monday I went into work to find these on every door in my office suite.

A conspiracy had taken place while I was gone visiting the Airman and Ms. Airman.

It involved a very sneaky, dear friend and a roll of yellow ribbon.

I cried like a girl...

...which I am.

And a very proud friend, Mum, and American.

Kindness.

Support.

Understanding.

Who could be luckier?

First Day Musings --- "Act Like You Are Somebody"

What has happened to civility?

My Grandmother had the nicest way to remind us of how to behave whenever we went somewhere. "Act like you are somebody," she would caution, meaning for us to remember that we came from a decent family with values, morals, and, most of all, a reputation of being civil. In short, don't get out there and do something unkind, mean, or illegal.

There seems to be a trend in acting not like we are "somebody", but rather acting like we are Somebody -- somebody more important, smarter, meaner, and self-centered. Need to pull out in traffic? Well, you will just have to wait. Waiting for a parking place? Oops, I was faster. Someone says something you don't agree with? Well, just tell them how stupid they are.

Used to be, we could disagree and still be friends. We could worship differently, live differently, and even vote differently, but we still could be polite and courteous. Where did that go?

Just once and a while, I would like to hear, "Yes'm." Or, I'd like to see someone hold a door for another person; see a car let another pull in ahead of them; or, listen to a discussion that didn't include a rash of profanity that would make a pirate blush. Wouldn't it be refreshing to see the Golden Rule really a part of every day life?

How do we change the world? Well, really, we can't. We can only change the world we live in daily. How can you be more civil in your world? How can you encourage others to be more civil?

When once the forms of civility are violated,

there remains little hope of return to kindness or decency.

 - Samuel Johnson, British author

Back to Normal -- Whatever That Is...

Update first. My friend's husband is doing much, much better. And, we have the story finally straight. He rents pasture land next to his calf barn. He had noticed a strange truck spending a lot of time sitting in the parking lot of a church that had been burned a number of times because it was integrated. He wrote the tag number down for Just In Case. Fortunately.

Later in the day, as he went to feed, he saw the truck in the driveway of the house that went with the property he rented and that he watched over for the family who lives away from here. He stepped out of the truck and asked the man what he was doing. The man told him it was none of his business. My friend's husband replied that it was as he was responsible for the house and that he rented the farm that went with it. At this, the fella jumped from the truck, slugged my friend's husband, knocking him to the ground. Then, he straddled him and proceeded to hit him more than 30 times in the face, breaking every bone in his face, all while my friend's husband begged him to stop. Somehow, my friend's husband managed to get an arm free and poke two fingers in the man's eyes, wiggled his cell phone from his pocket and call 9-1-1. This caused the fella to get up, run to his truck and go home.

He, along with his father-in-law, returned to see if my friend's husband had gotten up from the beating. Apparently, when they saw all the rescue works and deputies, they fled. Since my friend's husband had the tag number, however, he was detained before my friend's husband was even in Winston-Salem. He remains in jail under $250,000 bond.

My friend's husband, meanwhile, has managed to get from the ICU to home in three days! The bleeding on his brain stopped on Thursday and by Friday the blood was re-absorping and the swelling in his face was going down. He could open his eyes and the opthamologist determined that he would not lose his eyes. While he will have at least one surgery, after the swelling is gone, we are all blessed by his quick turn around. We feel optimistic and he feels well enough to watch basketball and talk about going fishing!

This incident has reminded me how fragile our lives are. We never know who or what will happen even in the next minute. We take for granted that we are safe and secure in our worlds. The idea of violence or cruelty seldom enters our minds; it isn't what we would do, but we forget not everyone shares our values. Yet, we mustn't forget that there are many who don't have this assurance. And, we must work to bring peace, safety, and kindness  in any way we can.