By Joe Mazzella
When I was a young man just starting college I began to write my first articles for a local county newspaper. I hadn’t been doing this for long when I received a letter from a young woman who got the paper out of state. She had been in grade school with me many years ago. She told me of what it was like for her then. Health problems had stunted her growth and distorted her appearance. She was bullied and teased often. And she felt scared, sad, and alone.
Then one day the teachers took us all on a field trip to the local Post Office. They had us line up two by two and hold hands to keep anyone from wandering off. No one was wanting to hold her hand or walk with her but suddenly I volunteered. I think something deep inside me had opened my eyes to see her sadness. I held her hand and talked to her all the way to the Post Office and back. She wrote me that the kindness and compassion I showed her that day made school feel bearable again. We would sometimes talk after that but I didn’t know the impact I had made on her life. Her family moved away during the summer that year and I never saw her again. But after getting her letter that year in college we started to write each other and remained friends for several years until her life-long health problems finally took her life.
It is said that: “A single act of kindness can change a person’s life.” After getting that first letter from my friend I knew that this was true. Every act of kindness is precious. Every act of kindness is priceless. Every act of kindness is a gift from God that we are called to share with love. And each one has the power to change a life.
I am just happy that God gave me the chance that day so many years ago to be kind to a sad, little girl and to bring a moment of love and joy into her life. And I pray that one day I will see her again in a place where the love, joy, and kindness never end.
