10 Stories That Prove Kindness Is the Backbone of Humanity

Kindness isn’t always easy to find, yet it plays a huge role in keeping our relationships and communities strong. It connects people, whether they’re family members or complete strangers. Small acts of care can help create a sense of belonging and remind us that we’re not alone.

• One time, I came home from college bawling my eyes out. I had a weird interaction with someone that sent me into a panic attack. I was sobbing uncontrollably. My sister found me after I had been crying for over an hour and freaked out.
  I could barely say anything, but I managed to tell her. She was relieved because she thought something really terrible had happened to me, but I told her I just felt extremely terrible about myself and needed to sleep.
  When I woke up, she had made a heart-shaped cookie with frosting on it that said, “You are loved.” My sister isn’t one for emotional conversations, they make her really uncomfortable, so this really touched me. © Unknown author / Reddit

• My wife got sick. Real sick. A guy at church gave us more than enough money to make our mortgage and bill payments for several months, as well as car rentals and hotel stays during treatments. Literally kept us in our house.
  We’re great friends now; we got to talking and found we had a lot in common. It’s too big a gesture to ever forget. © InevitableSignUp / Reddit

• I played with an all-ages musical group when I was in college. After an exhausting out-of-town event, everyone insisted that we go to a particular restaurant (seafood on the pier!). I opened the menu and quickly realized that I could afford water and the side salad, and nothing else.
  I was trying to decide what I would say if anyone noticed what I was ordering when one of the older guys in the group leaned over and said, “I got it. Order anything you want.” That was over thirty years ago, and I’m still grateful. © Prodigal_Lemon / Reddit

• After my mom passed away, my little sister and I moved in with our grandma. I was still a kid myself, but I was the one taking care of my 6-year-old sister.
  One day, she ran to me crying and said, “Grandma told me Mom didn’t love us enough to stay.” I didn’t know what to say at first. I just hugged her and told her that wasn’t true.
  The next day, my little sister walked up to our grandma. I expected yelling or tears. Instead, she wrapped her arms around her and said, “I miss Mom too.”
  Grandma froze, then started crying harder than I’d ever seen. Grandma apologized and told us she was struggling too. She promised to be more careful with her words.

• I begged my mom for this one jacket in high school. It was trendy, but way too expensive for us. She said no.
  The week of my graduation, I found it on my bed. My mom said, “I’ve been putting $5 aside every month since you mentioned it.” I wore it everywhere for years.

• My first baby was a few weeks old, and I was out grocery shopping with her. When I was getting ready to put my baby and groceries in the car, a woman and her children approached and offered to put my groceries in the car and take the cart back for me.
  I denied her at first, but she insisted. It was very sweet of them. © MadamStrawberry14 / Reddit

• 30 years ago, I was a new mom taking my baby out for the first time. I was in an underground shopping center, and to get to the next level, I needed to use stairs or an escalator. I had no idea how to navigate the escalator with a stroller, so I was standing at the top just staring at it.
  Two gentlemen came up behind me, and when I went to move out of the way, they picked up the stroller and carried it down the escalator for me. I thanked them, and they waved and left. They didn’t say anything to me and never stopped their own conversation. Definitely a small thing, but I think about them any time I see a mom with a stroller. © Kayceeelle67 / Reddit

• I was driving home alone on a road trip, and my car broke down in the middle of nowhere. I pushed it to a nearby auto shop. It was closing, but the mechanic stayed.
  I told him I had maybe $60 in cash. I was almost in tears. He looked at the engine and said, “I’ll fix it. You can pay later.” He fixed the car in 40 minutes, gave me a bottle of water, and wrote down a mailing address for payment.
  When I finally mailed him the money with a thank-you note, he wrote back, “Someday, you’ll help someone else. That’s how we keep going.”

• When I was 9, I broke our dad’s vintage radio. I lied, and my older brother got grounded.
  Years later, I brought it up. He laughed and said, “You are my little sister. Of course I took the hit.” It’s such a small thing, but it brought me to tears.

• Whenever I go on vacation to the beaches, I get up very early and collect the best seashells, wait for later in the day when families with young children arrive, then stroll ahead of them and distribute the seashells I collected for the kids to find. © TheAcmeAnvil / Reddit

Life comes with plenty of highs and lows, and during the hardest moments, a kind gesture from someone else can make a huge difference. If you enjoy stories like that, take a look at 17 Times Kindness Helped People Get Back on Their Feet.