The Anonymous $1,100 Act of Kindness We Received

 

This is a picture of the parents at Pennies of Time 10 years ago.

Ten years ago.

Ten years ago, we received a critical act of kindness.

Wow, I had no idea that it had been that long or that we had reached a milestone in time in receiving an enormous act of kindness.  I am glad to sit down and have the chance to share the generosity of another through the Random Acts of Kindness Blogfest.

The Place:  Hyde Park, Chicago

Me:  Well, I was a Special Education Teacher working at a child psychiatric unit.  I was one year out of my master's program at Harvard.  Work was hard, bills kept coming, and school loans were added to the mix.

My husband: Well, he was about to graduate from MBA school.  Without a job.  In the toughest market . . . in the worst economy that many had ever seen.  Shot to the ground were our hopes of a paid internship.  Shot to the ground were the hopes of a sign-on bonus.  Shot to the ground was a hope of having a job upon graduation.

We found ourselves in a position of struggling to know what to do next.  We could not afford to live in Chicago on my salary alone, even for a short time.  Knowing that we had loving family in Texas, we asked to live with them (thank goodness they said yes).  I was hoping that I could quickly find a job teaching that would start in the fall.

We hoped that my husband would find work as well after we moved . . . but the kicker of it all was we had no money to move. 

The cost of moving was going to be $1,100.

no money.

none.

We had nothing to sell.  Our most valuable commodities were our brains.  We joked that we needed to walk around wearing protective helmets on our head since our educations cost so much and since all we had was our brains.

I started making arrangements to move.  The gig was up; our lease was over. I just hoped that we would figure out how to pay for it all. We told no one of our financial problem.   If worse came to worse, I figured we could just leave it all, our hand-me-down couch I reupholstered. Our $45 dresser.  All of my teaching supplies (YOU know how teachers work hard to build up those units and book collections and tricks of the trade).  You know, not fancy stuff, but items that made up the things that make life easier. I don't know about you, but, I really like having a place to eat my dinner.

The week after graduation weekend was upon us, and we were still at a loss as to what to do. 

I came home from work a tad more tired than usual.  I worked with wonderful people, and, yet, the job was still super challenging.  That day, I had been threatened by a patient.

That day, frankly, nothing had really gone right.  I gathered my mail, chose the "pee-smelling elevator" to go up the 11 stories (instead of the one with the penis drawn all over the inside and smelled of garbage--sorry, that is what it was), and started wondering if I had found enough boxes to pack for the evening.

And, then, our world was rocked.

From an envelope, I pulled a cashier's check for $1,100.  The exact amount needed for our move . . . to allow us to move to a place and regroup, find jobs, and be supported by those who loved us.

I was shocked. Stunned.

We didn't know who sent that amount.  It was sent anonymously.  We still don't know what person in the universe sent that check or how the EXACT amount we needed was the EXACT amount sent.

We accepted that check with humility and gratitude.  We were able to move.  And, in our small ways, we try to repay that anonymous gesture by being supportive and kind to others.

Maybe it is because we have been on the receiving end of acts of kindness that we feel it is important to be kind to others to serve others.  That $1,100 check came at a critical time for us.  I hope that as we serve with our boys, teach our boys to serve, and share our service to others through Pennies of Time that we are in some small measure repaying that critical act of kindness.

If you are that anonymous check sender, THANK YOU!  You will never know how timely and critical that check was for our family.

Here are a few ways our family will be serving others this summer:
Easy Summer Service Ideas