Secret Santa
One random act of kindness made my day, but three over a three week period continue to amaze and delight me.
Between Thanksgiving and Christmas I had infections in both eyes and both ears, a terrible cold and because of all that, I lost my sense of smell, taste and hearing. I missed nine days of work and was very down.
In the middle of the madness a small package appeared on my doorstep. There was a tag on the outside that said to Jody from your Secret Santa. It contained a sweet pen and paper set with a Christmas dachshund. Full disclosure: my fur child is a wire haired dachshund. I lay on the couch coughing and marveling at the thoughtfulness of the gift.
A week later, I am still coughing and another package appeared on my doorstep with more dachshund goodness, this time in the form of a pair of dachshund tea towels. When I felt up to it, I texted a few friends but no one owned up to being my Secret Santa.
A few days before Christmas a third package arrived with a periwinkle blue wallet (my favorite crayon color.) Inside was a lucky penny and gift card to one of my favorite stores. I was floored.
I hope my Secret Santa hasn’t flown back to the North Pole yet and reads this to know how very much I appreciate the love and kindness that I felt from those three packages. Thank you Secret Santa! My heart still glows every time I think about it and look at my special gifts!
JODY SHAPIRO
Forest Hills
My guardian angel
This fall, I was travelling to our camp with six granddaughters and made a quick stop at a dollar store to purchase some coloring books and crayons for them. Returning to the car, the kids saw a McDonald’s across the parking lot and asked for take-out. It wasn’t until I reached for my wallet to pay that I realized it wasn’t in my purse. Upset, we rushed back to search the parking lot and question the store clerk, with no success. Several charge and insurance cards, my debit card and a small amount of cash were in the wallet. Extremely upset at this point, I called home and spoke to my daughter, asking her to cancel my debit card. She put me on hold to accept an incoming call. To my amazement, a gentleman was calling my house with his phone number to state he had my wallet! When calling him, he explained he saw my wallet on the ground and wanted to be certain it was returned intact to its rightful owner, and then insisted on driving out to meet me. I admit to being very shaken and nervous while waiting – a stranger having my personal information.
A true knight in shining armor soon arrived, handed me my wallet and asked me to check it to confirm everything was in it. I was so taken by his kindness and attempted to offer him the cash in my wallet, but he expected nothing in return. There truly are “good people” left in the world!
JANET HILL
Plum
Pittsburgers at their best
On January 20, my wife and I were is serious distress. Our car mysteriously died on us, not once but three times over the course of 30 minutes. We were travelling in heavy traffic along Washington Blvd. and then Fifth Avenue. This 86-year- old having failed to bring his cell phone further complicated matters. But as it happened, several very caring people came to our aid that day and we wish to thank them all – the man in the silver truck, the woman in the white car, patient drivers who never honked their horns, several police officers who were able to push our car into Mellon Park, the AAA driver who delivered us to a garage in Aspinwall, the young attendant who drove us home, and the garage owner who installed a new alternator late on a Friday afternoon so that we could have our car back for the weekend. Pittsburghers at their best!
LINWOOD BUTLER
Verona
Has someone done you right? Send your Random Act of Kindness to page2@post-gazette.com, or write to Portfolio, Post-Gazette, 358 North Shore Drive, Suite 300, Pittsburgh PA 15212.
First Published: February 9, 2017, 5:00 a.m.
