10 Moments That Prove Kindness Is the Force That Keeps Us Going

My FIL never liked me. 10 years of cold dinners and colder conversations.
When he got too old to drive, everyone assumed he’d ask his daughter. He asked me instead. I drove him to his appointments every Tuesday for 2 years.
The week before he passed, he gave me his watch. He said he’d been wrong about me and hoped I’d forgive an old man’s stubbornness. I wear it every day.

I gave directions to a lost tourist when I was late for work. Took 10 minutes I didn’t have. My boss noticed I was late and I told him the truth.
He said his wife had gotten lost in a foreign city once and a stranger had helped her find their hotel. He’d never forgotten that kindness. He didn’t mark me late.

My ex-husband and I stayed civil for our kids. I invited him on holidays, celebrated his promotions, never said a bad word about him to anyone. People thought I was crazy.
15 years later, when my second husband left me, my ex was the first person to show up. He mowed my lawn, fixed my car, and watched the kids. He said I’d taught him what grace looked like, and he’d never forgotten.

My son’s teacher called me in for a meeting. She said my son had been sitting with a new student at lunch every day for 3 weeks. He was isolated, and my son kept showing up. The teacher said she’d never seen anything like it. She wanted me to know I was raising someone good.
That night I hugged my son and told him I was proud. He shrugged and said the kid just looked like he needed a friend.

I wrote a letter of recommendation for someone I barely knew because nobody else would. She’d made some mistakes in her past and everyone had written her off.
2 years later she ran into me at a conference. She was a regional manager now. She said my letter was the only reason anyone had given her a chance. She offered me a job on the spot. I didn’t take it, but I smiled the whole drive home.

My mother-in-law moved in with us for what was supposed to be 3 months. It became 3 years. I never complained, never made her feel unwanted, even when it was hard.
When she finally moved into her own place, she left an envelope in my dresser drawer. A letter thanking me for treating her like family when her own children had made her feel like a burden.

My elderly neighbor asked me to teach her how to use email so she could write to her grandson overseas. We spent every Sunday afternoon for 2 months going over the same steps. I never got frustrated with her.
When I had my first baby, she showed up with a hand-knitted blanket. She said watching me be patient with her had reminded her that good people still existed.

I picked up my friend from the airport at 3 AM without complaining. She’d missed her connection and had nobody else to call. She fell asleep in the car and I carried her bags inside.
When I got engaged, she flew across the country and spent 2 weeks helping us plan everything. She said she’d never forgotten that I showed up without making her feel guilty for asking.

I raised my ex-wife’s son alone for 4 years while she “found herself.” No money, no calls. The remarried and demanded “her son back”. I refused.
2 days later, her new husband came to me. I froze when he said, “If you have photos of him, I’d love to see them.”
He’d realized something was wrong because she had no photos. He told her later he wouldn’t take the boy from the only real parent.

I stopped to help a man change his tire in a rainstorm. Got completely soaked and missed my dinner reservation. My girlfriend was furious until I told her what happened.
She went quiet, then said her father had once been stranded with a flat tire for 4 hours because nobody stopped. She canceled the restaurant and made dinner at home. She said that was the night she knew she’d marry me.