My seven year old and I have walked the same route to school every day for the past year and half – through his entire Kindergarten year and now First Grade.  On the way, we pass a large, rather sterile-looking nursing home whose bedroom windows overlook our side of the street as we walk.  Most of the windows are dark, with curtains drawn tight and no lights on.  But there is one exception – a bright, open window that has caught our eye from the start.  On the second floor in the right-hand corner, an elderly Russian-looking woman sits alone, looking out on the city streets as she drinks her morning tea.  She is always smartly dressed, with her gray hair tucked away from her face in a tidy bun.  Ever since we started our walking ritual, my son has looked up at that window, smiled at the “stranger-lady” and given her a cheery wave.  He’s done it almost every day, even though the stranger never noticed him at first.  Eventually, she did, and would smile back.  As the months passed, she then started waving back and even raised her cup to toast the tiny animated boy on the street below.  This week, for the first time, she waved and then blew my son a kiss.  He pretended to catch it and then emphatically blew one back.  Now, whenever we pass, we stop for several minutes while my son waves, blows kisses and catches the ones she sends back.  It’s one of the sweetest things I have ever seen.

The effect of this small connection with a stranger is lost on my boy, who sees it as a playful game but not much else. He doesn’t get why it is meaningful or how he has brightened this lonely woman’s mornings.   My boy’s little act of kindness is making a difference in this woman’s life and it is also making a difference in mine.  I reflect on the last time I did an act of kindness for someone else and realize that I don't do it early as often as I should and that I need to do better. Which is why I was particularly drawn to the idea of “the Socks Project” – a plan by three high school students to recycle mismatched socks and transform them into a pair of socks for the needy.  Like a friendly wave to a stranger, this idea is inspiring in its simplicity and its instant impact - making a difference one warm foot at a time.  A small yet mighty act of kindness that costs nothing and yet will brightens lives and give support to those who need it most in our community  - not unlike a cheery wave to a stranger by a seven year old on his way to school.

What was the last small act of kindness you gave or received?