I’m not sure what to call it, empathy, compassion or kindness, but Kate is overflowing with it. Here are just three examples.
One: Recently it was Kate's sister Sarah’s birthday. She lives way across the country so we had to send her a birthday box. I got Sarah a gift card from Kate, but Kate LOVES to shop for gifts so off we head to the dollar store. She picked out the presents she wanted to send to Rocket Girl, as she calls her, and I was impressed by the thoughtfulness of each gift as they dropped into the basket. A crown for the Princess and Princess Napkins … we have always teased that Sarah was the Princess. A towel that expands when you get it wet and has a race car on it. Sarah built and raced solar cars. Flip flops. Sarah loves the beach. Purple gardening gloves because Sarah LOVES to pull weeds and purple is Kate's favorite color. And the assorted birthday necessities: candles, banner and birthday girl ribbon. Kate definitely loves her sister and shared her Joy with gifts she thought she would like.
Two: Kate and I were driving on the back roads to Wal-Mart one hot summer day. At a T-intersection, we take a right. Standing there on the corner is a women dressed in all black, in the hot sun, looking at a brochure. Kate, of course, wants to stop and give her a ride. I explain stranger danger to her again – for the millionth time – and we go on our way. We finish our shopping and on the way home, we notice she is still standing there, in black, in the hot sun, not looking at the brochure any longer but looking at her watch. From the front seat to my right I hear “MMMOOOOOMMM!”
So, I roll down my window and ask her if she is okay. She tells us she is waiting for the bus. Hmmmm. I tell her there is no bus stop there but I know where the bus station is – and – I offered her a ride. Kate's' dream came true – a stranger got into our car.
Of course she was very appreciative and told us she had applied for a job across the street from where we saw her standing. She had gotten a ride there and was told the bus stop was across the street to get back home. She felt really good about the job interview but the longer she stood there the more concerned she became. Of course she and Kate carried on a long conversation all the way to the bus station. You know what happened next, Kate asked for her phone number and she kindly obliged. Again, Kate was sharing her Joy and showing empathy/compassion/kindness.
Three: We do respite for a young lady who is wheelchair bound, blind and
non-verbal. As a family, we move into their house and take care of her there. Most of her day she is sitting, strapped into a wheel chair or lying on her stomach in her bed. Not much fun for her. There are two couches in the family room and each has two recliners with a storage area in the middle. When we stay there, we would turn one of the couches to face the entertainment center for Kate to watch TV and recline and on the other side we put Kathryn. She would sit there for hours and not make a single noise. How relaxing for her … and us.
While scrolling through Facebook today an ad came up and Kate saw it. She made me go back to it and she said, “We need to buy that for Kathryn. She would love it!” I looked at what she was pointing to and it was a hanging chair with an umbrella. I told her, "You are right, Kate, she would! But it costs a lot of money." She then got up and went into her room, got her piggy bank with her $7.00 in change in it and said I could use that. I know it is $7.00 because we count it almost daily. She is saving for a new cell phone, or snack bag, she isn't sure which. Again, the empathy/compassion/kindness was overflowing from my Kate.
If only there were more people in this world who would show empathy-compassion-kindness = Joy to strangers and family alike, we would all be able to do what Kate told us multiple times last week, "Don't worry, be happy!"
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