![]() And oh, miracle, she reached back into a cooler and pulled out two bottles of ice-cold Royal Crown Cola, which she passed up to us as they went by. One of the few entertainments was watching an occasional car pass, so when a convertible pulled in behind, we took notice - even more notice when the beautiful woman in the passenger seat waved and smiled. There were no stops for sodas, and the 30 thirsty miles per hour took us nowhere forever. It was hot, even with the canvas sides rolled up. "In late 1955, a deuce-and-a-half truck filled with a dozen GIs and I were crawling across northern Iowa. "There is hardly anything more boring than traveling in a military convoy," Sullivan writes. Before I could say anything, he said, 'Don't pay me back.' Though the rent was less than $100, Strupp writes, "in a dark hour, it was a king's ransom."Ī simple act of kindness on a hot day nearly 50 years ago left a lasting memory for Dan Sullivan. He reached into his pocket and handed me a month's rent, in cash. "The night before I was going to tell my housemates I was leaving, one of them stopped me in the kitchen. ![]() "Inevitably the month came that I couldn't make the rent. Strupp would sneak into the kitchen to take food bought by his fellow tenants. When he could no longer afford the rent at his fraternity, he found refuge in a campus Christian fellowship house. Peter Strupp of Boston remembers being "flat broke" his senior year at the University of Wisconsin. Eight-year-old Luke O'Neill took one of his own coats to school so a less fortunate classmate could go outside at recess. Liadan Susoeff, 7, took books to a shelter in Pittsburgh at holiday time and read to the children there. Four-year-old Justin Dingman took the hand of a frightened fellow pre-schooler, serving as the welcoming committee on the boy's first day at school. Many listeners wrote of the generosity of very young people, Stamberg reports. "She laughed and said, 'Not at all.' But for me, I remember it very well because for me, it was the touchstone for what good deeds became in my life." "Years later, Dugay asked her mother if she remembered the incident. And my mother - I don't know whether she just put the plate there or whether she touched him gently or whether she said a few words - but I remember him turning to her in a gesture of thankfulness."ĭugay's mother came back and sat down at the table. And he was picking his way through the trashcan. She turned away from us and walked over maybe 20 or 30 feet to where there was a man by himself. "When I looked up from my plate, my mother was fixing one more plate. Donna's mother brought a picnic lunch - fried chicken and her famous potato salad - and prepared a plate for each of them. Donna Delfino Dugay of Harper Woods, Mich., remembers a day in California when she was 11 years old, and her parents took their six children for a special day at the beach. Sometimes witnessing a good deed leaves a lasting impression. Amy Scharman ends her note, "If you're out there, thank you for making that Christmas the most memorable of all." Ten years later, Scharman and her family still don't know who did that good deed. "It was such an overwhelming feeling to see such generosity from I don't even know who it was," she says. But someone had left 10 big bags filled with presents for the children, including clothes and toys. ![]() "It was about dusk on Christmas Eve and we heard a knock on the back door," Scharman says. ![]() Her mother was raising 13 kids with no child support. Jordan says she never got the couple's name and wishes that she could thank them for their generosity.Īmy Scharman of Mapleton, Utah, remembered the Christmas after her parents divorced. "They said, 'No, but can you wait a minute here?' They came back out with a case of diapers and four or five bags of food and said, 'Would you please give this to somebody who needs it worse than we do?'" She asked the young owners if they needed anything. Her relief van pulled up to a house that was nothing but a shell. Jordan, a nurse, volunteered to go door to door in Miami delivering emergency relief. And npr.org offers a few stories that did not make it on the air.īeverly Jordan witnessed an extraordinary act of generosity after Hurricane Andrew slammed into South Florida in 1992, leaving a wide path of destruction in its path. NPR's Susan Stamberg reports on some of the many responses that came in. Last month, Morning Edition invited listeners to share stories about "good deeds" they had witnessed or heard about. But it's their ability to touch us and stick in our memories that makes sometimes even small gestures a powerful and lasting force in our lives. Co-workers chipped in to help David Hutmacher at a time of financial strain.Īcts of kindness and generosity come in many different forms: Giving food to a hungry stranger, donating one's time to aid homeless people or helping a fellow tenant make the rent. ![]()
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