Sunday, January 7, 2018

Random acts of kindness...

I originally wrote this one back in August of 2010, I ran across it today and wanted to share it with you because I believe that most of you haven't read it, and for those of you who did see it before, I hope you don't mind a repeat.
Random Acts Of Kindness
All of a sudden he found out that the family would be moving at the end of the school year, just coming to the end of his first year in high school, you know how it was you were still the new kid on the block so to say and being a bit shy your friends were few and far between, hell moving to North Carolina was going to be a big shock and most people would never even know he was gone anyway, but Tempie and Rob would be the two that would.

Grade ten started in a strange new world, all the normal classes with French thrown in being taught by a young black lady named Miss Jackson who drove a Rivi aka Buick Riviera and had a strange interest in one of the young men in class who needless to say did very well, she was really hard on the rest of the class and what I learned from this lady was very little other than just enough to pass the class.

Jean Cathcart was one of my classmates who was always nice and very helpful to me, one of the reasons I remember her so well was because this teacher was so hard on her all the time, and burned into my memory is the look of fear on Jeans face when she was called in front of the class one day and asked to write the French word for foot on the chalk board, I could see the panic on her face as she hesitated the chalk broke once while she scratched for a word, I wanted to scream out the correct word “pied” as Jean wrote the word “foots” instead, she was so humiliated by this teacher for getting the word wrong and sad to say this is what I remember most about this class.

At home in the rural area outside the town of Alexis was a trailer park cut into a wooded area, the step dad had bought a trailer and moved it into this makeshift park, the ground needless to say was not level and the front door was a long way up, rather than build a nice porch there were a bunch of power poles brought in and dirt was dumped into the middle and leveled bringing the ground up to the door, this made the front nice but the back door was another issue and it was rarely used due to having to risk your life if you attempted to walk the steep and loose trailer house steps that were slid up underneath the door.

Here in the backwoods I learned that squirrel was the other white meat and a lot of weeks it was the only meat, coon hunting was no more than a night out chasing the sound of the barking hounds and spending time with some new friends from school, Randy and Lewis were their names and being that they were both seniors and the fact they lived pretty close making me the last passenger on Lewis’s school bus drive home, heck Lewis even taught me to drive one of the buses until he lost his bus driving privileges then Randy was the bus driver for the rest of the year. Coon hunting and Red Man Chew were a big part of my time with these friends.

One of the best friends I made was an older man named Tom, he was the man who owned the trailer park, when I needed money Tom would give me odd jobs cutting grass, digging out stumps or breaking rocks with a sledge hammer, when Tom had no work to be done he would make up stuff and take me for a ride through the country to help out his friends with odd projects, getting rid of a turtle invasion for one of Toms friends taught me that squirrel was not the only other white meat but turtle was too.

Tom taught me to drive the old blue pickup truck he owned and hand painted when the paint dulled, he taught me how to conserve gas by throwing that truck up into neutral and shutting off the engine while coasting down the mountains for miles and miles, when we finally got to the bottom it was as simple as putting it back into gear, releasing the clutch and we were back in business. Tom introduced me to a series of books written by Louis L’Amour called the Sacketts when I fell ill and was soon diagnosed with Type One Diabetes and he told me everything he knew about the condition and gave me a set of glass syringes and needles that belonged to someone in his family, Tom was a good man and a great teacher of many things including watch making, woodworking, hunting, fishing, reading, and general manners when it came to respecting your elders, women, and yourself.

The year in North Carolina that seemed like many finally ended with the family moving back home to South Carolina, my high school years ended right back in the same high school I began my ninth grade year in, Tempie and Rob were still there and never forgot me, heck I still communicate with them and several others I am starting to get back in touch with now.

Life moves on no matter where you are and you grow up in spite of the challenges and hardships you are faced with, people grow old and pass on Tom left us nearly fifteen years ago and his wife about seven years prior to him, but the lessons I learned from this man who was only in my life for a year will last a lifetime.

It’s funny how big a part you can be in someone’s life, so next time you feel the need to give a kid a job breaking rocks or pulling weeds because you think they may need a little cash, or next time you feel sorry for a sick kid and hand them a book to read thinking they just might like it, and reading it may take their mind off of what they are going through, next time you can’t come up with anything for that wayward kid to do but take him for a ride anyway just to do it, remember that one day because of your random acts of kindness this kid just may look back and Thank you from the bottom of his heart, whether you can hear it or not.

30 comments:

  1. A truly lovely reminder Jimmy. Thank you. Little gestures can have a HUGE and lasting impact.

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    1. Thank you EC, we never really know how many people our help and kindness touches.

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  2. I'm so glad you re-posted this, Jimmy, because I wouldn't have wanted to miss it. Also, I think I see bits of Tom in the person you are today ...

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    1. Jenny I am honored for you to compare me with Tom, Thank you so much. I am really happy that you enjoyed reading this.

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  3. It seems odd to me to move away for a year and then go right back to where you came from. Was step dad hiding out from someone or something, waiting for the heat to die down? I'm glad you had Tom for that year though, I can tell he made a big impression and helped you a lot with your growing up.

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    1. River I can just picture the step dad hiding out from something or someone but this was not the case. He actually had a good job with Duke Power Company in South Carolina at a nuclear power plant, the company sent him and a group of his coworkers to one of their locations in North Carolina for reasons I can't recall, and rather than go by himself he moved the whole family up there, he kept our house in South Carolina so when his need to be in North Carolina was over, we moved back home.

      Tom was one on the highlights of living there, he made the whole place interesting, I miss that guy to this day.

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  4. Oh how I wish I had someone like Tom when I was growing up. You and I have never met but I guess from your posts that you have something of the 'Tom' in you. An emotional post, Jimmy, but one worth reading a few times more. God bless!

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    1. Good morning Valerie, Everyone should have a person like Tom in their lives at least once, someone willing to share their time and knowledge with a kid to help point them in the right direction. I have a feeling that you have steered many into the direction that they should go in life more times than you realize yourself Valerie, even though you and I have never met you have made an impression on me. Thank you.

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  5. I'm so glad you had Tom in your life!

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    1. Thank you Bijoux, The good people like Tom are a blessing for us all.

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  6. Random acts of kindness no matter how small can make all kinds of differences in a person's life and mean everything. Thanks for the powerful reminder! Hugs...RO

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    1. RO, isn't it amazing how big a difference simple random acts of kindness can make on a person? Like with you, the guidance and advice that you mix into your interesting posts have helped far many more people than you will ever know, just your message for victims of domestic violence has helped a whole lot break away and save themselves, our world needs people like you and Tom.

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  7. There are so few Toms in this world.....we need more of them.

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    1. You are so right Delores, there are so few people like Tom in a world where we really could use them right now.

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  8. Sometimes it's the little things that can shape the way a kid grows up. Nice fellow, glad you had that guidance.

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    1. Very true Sharon, it is the little things that can shape a kid, just taking time to let a kid know that they matter can be huge.

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  9. I always hated mean teachers, had very few of them. Most of them were really old and ready to retire. Language classes in my HS were so ridiculously basic that it was hard to get a lot of stuff wrong.

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    1. That one year was the only foreign language class I ever took, French just didn't sound too authentic with a class full of Southern accents.

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  10. Tom was a sturdy brick in your foundation and formation. That kindness has helped to make you the kind person you are today. That you still remember and can write so well about all he did proves it.

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    1. Patti I feel really blessed to have had his influence in my life if only for that one year, I could probably tell a million stories of that short time period.

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  11. I had a mean teacher like that in San Diego in my senior year. When I moved to the central valley for the last half of my senior year the new teacher couldn't figure out why my grade was so back the first half of the year. The teacher hated me that's why. I've no idea why.

    What we do with the young ones leaves a lasting impression for many. Be kind and helpful is a good thing.

    Have a fabulous day. ☺

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    1. Sandee it is a good thing that there are far more good teachers out there to counteract the results of the bad ones, because the results of the bad teachers can leave a negative lasting impression too. It's good that you got a better teacher for the last half of your senior year.

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  12. Our Tom was Larry. Read about him here.
    http://fishducky.blogspot.com/2015/11/hey-man-we-can-work-this-all-out.html

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    1. Oh yes Fran, Larry was definitely a blessing for your family, we all need a good friend like him.

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  13. I was always the kid in class that the teachers picked on. I was quiet and shy and easily humiliated. I had teachers let the kids laught at me as would try to read a book report with out dicipilineing them. I would fall into tears which made it more fun for the class. I think thats why I have a fear of public speaking or anything of the sort. Also a reason I failed english class every year. Ha.
    Lisa

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    1. Kids can be mean anyways but it's a shame when they are allowed to be, I'm sorry you had to go through that Lisa.

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  14. Well, that made me cry. I've done things for students. Nothing big. Given them stuff my boys have outgrown, for them or their siblings, after school, so no one has to know. Gave readers books that I didn't want anymore. Paid anonymously for prom tickets, or a yearbook. These days I'd probably get in trouble for doing such things. I tell this not because I want any recognition for it, but to say that the look on their faces was the biggest reward.

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    1. Val those students are exactly the ones who will always remember you and treat kids the way that you treated them by being kind and helping them along the way. I just knew that you were that type of teacher, Thank you my dear friend.

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  15. absolutely wonderful write up Jimmy !

    People like time who make their existence SUCCESSFUL are rare though but where ever they exist they make their surroundings beautiful and rule in the hearts of people who encounter them and learn HOW TO LIVE EXACTLY .

    thank you for sharing this treasure post my friend .

    life is unbelievably short and unpredictable and all we leave behind are such small acts of kindness

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    1. Thank you Baili, Your kind words mean so much to me.

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