another story of kindness

in ,

kindness is the only service that will stand the storm of life and not wash out.- abraham lincoln

it's truly amazing what life brings you sometimes...

this summer, kiele spent two months with her dad. on august 9th, she flew alone for the first time--new hampshire to kansas city. needless to say, with a gate change in chicago, i was a stressed-out-mess-of-a-mother that day. i waited for kiele in the terminal area, while steve and the little ones, peaking through the windows, anxiously waited outside the terminal door. as soon as i saw kiele, i gave her a huge hug, and after the token hi mom, kiele excitedly said,

wait mom. i want you to meet someone.

and from the jetway appears a mother and her six-year-old son, sarah and george. sarah and her family flew the same flights as kiele, from NH. sarah befriended kiele (or vice versa) on the first flight and as kiele turned the wrong way to find her connecting gate, sarah guided her in the right direction. sarah and i talked a short bit. i thanked sarah for her kindness and then we went our separate ways.

kiele and sarah had exchanged emails on the flight.

then a few days ago, i received an email from sarah (forwarding me what she had just emailed kiele)--an invitation to her house, dinner and an afternoon swimming at their local country club.

we had the best time! they're an amazing, wonderful family. i'm beyond thankful for their kindness and hospitality. more than once, sarah voiced that she would like to adopt our family, for the year that we're here. people like sarah don't come into your life very often. and so i want to tell the world (or at least my blog readers) how wonderful the mathews family, from kansas city, is and how very appreciative i am that they have come into our lives.

and i can't forget to share how thankful i am to kiele, who continues to be such an angelic, wonderful soul.  the kind of spirit that is beyond anything a parent could instill or teach.  we would never have met the mathews family if it wasn't for kiele and her kind and caring spirit.

i wish i had photos to share of the mathews boys but i don't.  :-(  i only had my camera out for a short, short bit.