Putting Out Fires

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

My momma told me...

Of all the things I fought with my mom over when I was young (cleaning my room, doing my chores...) writing thank-you notes was always the most painful. Oh the wars we had over thank-you notes! I'd let it drag on weeks after Christmas just out of spite for being told I HAD to send a thank-you note.

Now that I'm older, I still struggle with doing them. But I have to tell you, now that I'm actually old enough to be receiving them for gifts that I give, I've decided you can never underestimate the power of the thank-you.

OK, so I kinda suck as a friend sometimes. I just take for granted that one of my bestest friends in the whole world, africankelli, is always coming up with ways that normal folk can help save the world a little. One of those is CAOK. Calculated Acts of Kindness. I think she made that up? I don't know, but basically its a pay-it-forward type deal that coincides with Lent. I don't know if you celebrate (practice?) that, but that's besides the point.

I see all these wonderful comments that people leave. People who only know her through the Internet who are excited to participate in something that isn't about posting every day to be held accountable, its just about doing nice stuff. So why don't I just do it? Even a little bit? Dunno. I'm the picture of laziness I guess.

So back to the thank-you notes. I think I'm going to do a little CAOK'ing myself. I definitely owe my grandma a thank-you note or twenty, and I know how much she loves getting letters from me. But I forget. And I think some day I'll wish I sent her more letters. So tonight, Grandma's getting a big Thank You for being so good to me.

In other news: My mom is back in the hospital for more chemo. I swear she's the toughest. Can you imagine having to go through it again and again? And not once does she ever complain. I just don't think I could be as strong as she is. She takes every day of this and makes light of it. She can find a joke in almost everything and never loses her spirit. What more can I say?

The people in my mom's life have showed more of that pay-it-forward spirit then I ever imagined was out there. Remember the Thousand Cranes? And there's my mom's friend who walked Shadow (their dog) every day my mom's been in the hospital previously, and who now walks with my mom and Shadow to get them both out of the house. And the people from my mom's church who sent her 25 days worth of Christmas gifts and the Youth Group who made her Valentines? Then there's the countless cards and phone calls and visits. Its just overwhelming....

But then again, my mom is the perfect example of someone who paid it forward and had goodness come right around back to them.

3 Comments:

Ramona said...: Seems to be that you have just written the most beautiful thank you card! :); 7:09 AM
African Kelli said...: You put good out in the world and goodness comes back ten-fold. You and your momma are perfect examples of that! :); 10:22 PM
Anonymous said...: I have put up a bit of a challenge on my site with African Kelli's CAOK. I intend to start it Monday, which will give me time to prepare for my theme. I hope this will get the word out, and who knows how it will spread?

Thanks for mentioning it here.; 4:49 PM

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