A Random Act of Kindness

It seems that I no sooner am appalled when I read in the newspaper about some heinous act one individual has perpetrated against another, and suddenly my faith is restored in society when I witness someone bestowing a random act of kindness toward another.

Case in point: A month ago Jerry, a neighbor of mine came by and asked if he could pick some of my grapes. As you may have read in earlier journal entries, I have an arbor and this year the grapes were especially abundant. I was thrilled for him to take some of the grapes off my hands because I hate to see them go to waste.

Jerry and I have only talked on a few occasions, but through the course of our conversations I have learned that he is a Master Gardener. Since I love to garden, whenever we talk I have tried to glean as much information from him as I can in regards to my own yard. He is very informative and appreciates the hard work I put into my yard and gardens.

My grape arbor and a few dwarf sized fruit trees are located on a rectangular shaped piece of property that is fenced in, but was lacking a gate. It was on my "things to do" list, but I had just never got around to installing one. I had a make shift gate propped up to keep stray dogs out. Jerry's property butts up against this rectangular portion of my property.

While he was back there picking grapes he noticed my 'gate' or lack thereof, and said that he thought he had a gate laying around that would fit that spot. Nothing much more was said about it and he eventually thanked me for the grapes and left.

The next day Jerry was back with the gate, poles and cement. I was so surprised, but secretly thrilled at the same time. I had wrestled with that make shift gate for so long, and it was such a hassle every time I wanted access to that piece of my property. Jerry was right, the gate did fit perfectly, and it hardly took him any time at all to get it up either. Before he left he cautioned me about not using it until the cement had dried, and told me to let him know if I needed help with anything else. How often does that happen in today's world?

Now I go out almost daily to admire my new gate! It almost feels like Christmas - do you know what I mean? I doubt he realizes what a wonderful gesture that was. What a nice man and good neighbor to take time out of his day to help me.

My faith is restored in mankind once again.