Ghost of Midnight

Vermont kindness reaches Olympia boy in nick of time

#VT – Posted on the Cambridge Front Porch Forum a few days ago…

Our daughter is a VISTA (Volunteers in Service To America) for United Way in Washington state this year. Today someone left a note on her car (Vermont Registration). The note writer’s child has been collecting old automobile license plates from all over the country, and has them all, except Vermont! If anyone has an old Vermont number plate, and wants to make a stranger smile, give me a call. I’ll pick it up and get it to Washington. Thanks, Howard and Sue

And then they shared this follow-up today…

A couple of issues ago I posted a note asking for the donation of an expired Vermont license plate to complete the 50 state collection of a child in Washington state, where our daughter, Allison got a request from a stranger. The response was way more than we anticipated: we got almost a dozen calls and emails from folks here in Lamoille County offering to part with their old number plates just to make a stranger’s child smile.

We quickly learned that this young man is in the Ronald McDonald house near Olympia, ill with leukemia, and that his 12th birthday is Dec. 19. The first three plates we collected were shipped to arrive in time for the party. From our daughter about the pick up: “She was crying and hugged me, and said she just couldn’t believe it. She gave me a Starbucks gift card. She was beside herself, and said her friends’ son would be so, so happy! His birthday is tomorrow.”

So Thank You!!! To all of you who took the time to get involved in this tiny but thoughtful generosity. The take-away here is that it takes so little to brighten someone’s day. We should all try to be more mindful of the possibilities inherent in the most casual but heartfelt acts of kindness. And when we do, we’re all the better for trying. Thanks again, Howard and Sue