What's the kindest thing you've ever experienced?

[flopsytheflatcat]

an act of kindness to you or one you've witnessed or heard about?

My son ...he was so kind last year to me...He purchased a holiday (much needed) for me my dh and my young dd.My husband was 54 and my dd 7 and neither had flown before.He arranged hotel,transfers and work leave for my dh and myself and told us by printing our tickets out and a picture of the hotel and everything and handing it to us on christmas day in a christmas card.I cried! My son is a wonderful man and I am very proud of his thoughtfulness and kindness and will be eternally grateful for what he did for us all.

@Sallycinammonbangsthedruminth
That's lovely!

I was having my tubes checked out after years of infertility. All done in a clinic full of pregnant women. After the procedure I had to stay for half an hour, so was sat alone and crying (not obviously). A nurse came over and asked me whether I was okay and did I have someone with me. I told her my DH was in the waiting room. He wasn’t meant to come in to where I was, but she went and got him and sat us out of the way of all the pregnant women. I will never forget that quiet compassion.

Bump

@partysong they truly were (are) wonderful people. I'm no contact with my parents now, but still those that helped along the way are in my life.

I saw a saying once that went "be who you needed when you were young" so I try to do that.
I've done some things that have made a difference to others (I hope!) and in turn they will maybe do a kindness for others.

I'm happy and content in my life now. :)

I went on holiday recently with my elderly mum recently and was blown away by how people just moved in to smooth the path from people clearing a space for the wheelchair through the airport to the two blokes who basically picked her up and lifted her onto a canal boat and the couple at the train station on the way home when my mum was trying to persuade me to leave to miss rush hour traffic who said 'we're getting the same train, we'll make sure she's ok'

Ratbag I'm so genuinely pleased that you're happy now

My baby twins were in NICU. I was shell shocked, and in pain after a traumatic birth and being told my twins might not survive. A couple of the NICU nurses were absolutely lovely to me but some of them were so cold. They were great at looking after the twins but the worse ones were only interested in how much milk I was expressing. They didn't seem to see me as a person who had been through a terrible experience. One of them gave me the wrong expressing equipment so the milk was literally being torn out of my breast. I was sobbing in pain and clinging to my husband's hand every time I had to try to express, every 3 hours all day and all night. It took them a few days to realise I'd been given the wrong equipment but by that time the damage was done, I had really severe bruising and there was no chance of my milk coming in. But the doctors and nurses would discuss in front of me "how's mummy's milk?" And the nurses would reply "hardly any". I was breaking my heart over that couple of ounces of bloody breast milk. Eventually I had a mental breakdown over all of this. But a chance encounter in the corridor with a student midwife who was on placement in the unit made me realise it was ok to stop, that it was my body and nobody could make me do anything I wanted to and that the babies would thrive. And she told me id done more than anyone could expect considering what I had been through. She was aghast at the way some of the nurses were behaving towards me and she really really helped me to find the courage to stand up for myself and say no more. I don't think she even knew what she had done for me. I hope she qualified as a midwife. I'll always remember her for being the one who asked me "how are you" and actually listening to the answer. Such a wonderful young woman.

My foster carers, they believed in me more than I believed in myself. I was 13 and was badly neglected abused as a child. They taught me that there was kindness in the world and that people did care about me.
I went on to do well at school and eventually went to Uni and got myself a law degree, I have 2 children now and they refer to them as grandma and grandad, I'm hoping to become a social worker myself one day :) hopefully I can pass the kindest they showed me to some other young person.

These stories are so lovely. I've seen some amazing kindness over the years but a couple that happened to me are things I'll always remember.

I was having a really tough day. A colleague had spotted I was close to tears but had obviously known not to ask me at the time. I would have just broke down. She turned up on my doorstep after work with flowers and a hug. I will always remember that.

Another time I had left a horrible, horrible job. I was broke and stuck at home due to a lack of money. A friend met me every Friday after she finished work. She bought me a drink every week. It meant the world that she would give up her time to make sure I was ok and buy me a drink as I was jobless. I will always remember her kindness. It made an awful time bearable.

I always remember my db aged about 4/5. He helped pick up someone’s bags off the floor. The woman had 2/3 toddler children and an overloaded pushchair and looked thoroughly harassed. Without prompting my boy went over to her and picked up her bags whilst she picked up the pushchair. The woman thanked him but I think she was really shocked at what he’d done and then very grateful. I was obviously very proud.

A school took part in the local remembrance parade this morning. Overheard a mum say to her two Kids that she was ‘super proud’of them. It was really sweet.

The sonographer when I was pregnant with DD2. DH was stuck in traffic and it was the abnormality scan. The pregnancy hadn't been going well and I was so worried it had caused difficulties for my baby. She was absolutely wonderful, talking things through, taking as long as possible so DH might make some of it. Genuinely made me feel like she was my birthing partner. He made the last few minutes in time to hear we were having another girl. So pleased she made the experience as comfortable as possible considering the circumstances. Our sonographer with DD1 was awful and I didn't know any better. This made me understand what great care is.

I really like the sentiment ""be who you needed when you were young". Thank you for sharing that @Ratbagcatbag

Yes I love the that too. I'm going to keep it as my mantra. It's true also that often we don't appreciate what others did for us when we were young until we are much older.

@Lord that is so lovely to hear. I hope you always cherish your foster parents.

Sometimes it's the really small things that stick in your mind. In Rome for the first time a couple of people showed real kindness and a willingness to help as we struggled to master paying for tickets at the station etc. I expected pick pockets and thugs everywhere, but in fact many of the people are very genuine.

The hospital porter who allowed my 2 year old to skip down to theatre for his operation rather than be penned in the cage bed thing they attempted to put him in.... It was a loooong walk and they skipped and made dinosaur noises all the way

@SunsetBoulevard3 they are amazing people, they took me in and then later took on my 2 sisters too, which meant we all got to grow up together :)

When I came out of hospital a few years ago, my friend and partner took me in for two weeks to recover. They picked me up, and when I got to her place, she'd done the room up with fresh flowers. I almost cried because it felt so safe (I'd had emergency surgery). I had to ask her to remove the flowers because I'd suddenly got terrible hay fever though! Their kindness really went above and beyond.

@ParkheadParadise @JJSS123 just

Wow this thread is making me cry.

The lady who, when I was diagnosed with a rare disease after surgery and joined a facebook group, noticed I lived locally and reached out to me. We met for coffee and she was/is a truly kind, warm soul, and we have met since again. I am trying to pay it forward by reaching out to others recently diagnosed.

The volunteer who bought me ice cream on the hospital ward, totally out of the blue and it made my absolute day.

These stories have made me cry! Amazing thread. Definitely belongs in classics!

@ParkheadParadise I'm yet another that will always remember your story. I'm glad that that man was able to be with your daughter and showed her such compassion, I'm so sorry for your loss

This wasn't born out of adversity but two kind things relating to the same event. We were in Athens last year and were getting a bus, not realising you had to buy a ticket in advance. There was nowhere to get one so the driver just let us on. Later on we were trying to buy tickets for the return journey at a kiosk. They didn't sell them separately so we'd have had to buy two books of ten tickets for one journey. Not the worst thing in the world but the guy running the kiosk just left his partner in charge and insisted on driving us to our accommodation and refused to accept any money.

There are a couple of very sad people struggling with life on AIBU tonight. This thread is life-enhancing.