A Kind Birthday, An Amazing Experience

To enlarge the above photo just click it on because finding this award, that I won several years go, when I was recently cleaning out the garage was how it all began. It brought back memories how happy I was when I was doing things for others. Not big things, little things. It also reminded me of a Margie Boule cloumn in the Oregonian where an elderly woman sent a letter to her family and friends saying that for her 80th birthday she didn't want gifts what she wanted for her birthday was for them to do one act of kindness. I decided that is what I wanted for my birthday, no gifts, but one hundred acts of kindness done by my birthday.

So I asked for help. On June 9, 2009 I sent a letter to my family and friends telling them to put their money away and do one act of kindness for my birthday. I also posted here on the blog asking for your help. One hundred acts of kindness by my birthday. One hundred acts of kindness in nine days.

Did everyone every respond!! Thirty-six people did more than one hundred acts of kindness in nine days. I am so touched by everyone's support that I am typing this through tears of joy. I would love to list every single act of kindness that was done but there just isn't enough room here. So please don't be offended if I leave off your act of kindness. Just know it was recorded and treasured by me and treasured by the person that you did the kind act for.

The first act of kindness was done by Pat. Here is what she wrote: "One of the residents where my mother lives has become very intrigued with my little traveling cup. It's very cute, a small cup, aluminum with a red handle that can clip to a belt or backpack. I take it with me when I visit, since I'm always hitting their coffeepot and don't want to make another cup for them to wash when they just finished the dishes. Irene is 104, and keeps asking me about my cup and whether coffee tastes different in it. So I'm going to order another cup just for her, but catalog orders can take a little time, so she'll get a belated b'day present from you"

Number 100 was done by me. Yesterday morning I stopped by a 7-11 store to check a lottery ticket. There was a delivery driver there stocking shelfs and he really had a frown on his face. I said to him "To bad your have to work Fathers Day", he responded "It stinks, doesn't it?" The lottery ticket I had won fourteen dollars (I used the automatic machine to chek it instead of having the teller check it), on my way out of the store I gave him the lottery ticket then went out and got in my car. I watched as the clerk and the driver talked to each other. You could just see that they thought that I gave them a losing ticket. Then the clerk checked it. Frowns turned to smiles and they both waved at me. That was the exclamation point about what this was all about, turning frowns to smiles.

Again if I fail to list your act of kindness here please forgive me but there just isn't room to describe all of them. Between 1 and 100? Three dogs were rescued. One child was sponsored. In twelve instances the elderly were helped, whether it be helping them pack, cleaning out their room at an assisted living center, cooking them meals, or just spending time with them. And the elderly did four acts acts for others, taking refreshments out to their landscaper, shopping for a son's birthday card even though it was a struggle for her to walk, giving clothes to charity. Eight phone calls were made, some to friends that they hadn't talked to in years to reconnect, to calling grieving widows, or just calling people to check on them. Three meals were cooked for other than the elderly. Two lawns were mowed, including one for a neighbor whose house had burnt down. Five grocery carts were returned to stores, not their grocery carts but others. Three rides were given, including one so a dad could watch his daughter's play. Thank you notes were left. Three letters were written, one to a serviceman, two to doctors thanking them for their services. Strangers were complimented twice. Strangers on the street were given coupons for free Subway sandwiches, strangers in lines at the grocery store were given and made aware of coupons. Diabetic research was impacted when forms for an event where the money from the event was given to diabeetic research. Ham Radios were fixed. New residents were welcomed to the community. Thank you notes were left. Meals were cooked for others. Trips to Goodwill were made. Supportive messages were emailed and posted. Books were donated to a library. Time was donated to an animal shelter. A broke stranger with a disabled car was given a hot dog meal and twenty dollars for gas. Laundry was folded for a disabled person. In one of the most touching and selfless acts the only hankerchef that a lady had that was given to her by her mother, was given to her new daughter-in-law. Caregivers were taken to lunch. In one of the most inventive acts of kindness, in a retirement community the morning papers were taken from the sidewalk and put on people's porch so the elderly didn't have to fight the weather to get their paper. Two special gifts were sent to friends not expecting them. Seven young girls were taken camping. Donations were made to prostate cancer, to a local church, and to a no kill cat shelter. A thousand dollars was given to a family member in dire straits. A reunion was planned. A six year old was introduced to 45 rpms. And acts of kindness was done for me, I was taken out for lunch twice and dinner once and told that I had to learn how to accept kindness done my direction too. And the list goes one.

How did it impact the person doing the acts of kindness? One lady wrote me and said it made her more aware of how many times a day we have a chance to do some little thing to make someone else's life easier. For me it made me aware of how many kind things were done my direction on a daily basis. One person asked if we could make recording acts of kindness a weekly thing on the blog. I'm considering that on Update Day we also record one act of kindness we did the previous week. Another lady thought it would be a good idea to make it a birthday tradion.

Yesterday when I honored my dad I said there were two words that I should have said to him every day when he was alive. Now I am also going to say those two words to you. THANK YOU!!!

"Walking with a friend in the dark, is better than walking alone in the light." Helen Keller.

Today's Puzzle:

My father was one of the most famous people in show business and often is considered the first multi-media star having success on radio, on television, and in movies. I have three brothers, two half-brothers, and one half-sister. Mary, my half-sister, acted on one of the most popular television shows in history, with a noted scene in which she got wet. I was born in Los Angeles on June 27, 1933 and died of lung cancer in Burbank, California on August 24, 1995. I had my own entertainment success. Performing with my three brothers in a boy band before the phrase boy band became popular. I appeared in many television shows but the television show that I am the most well known for was a cop show, on TV from 1968-1975, in which I played a police officer. Six years after dad’s death I published a revealing autobiography in which I revealed the impact that alcoholism had on me. In my autobiography I also outed my father as a physical and emotional abuser. While one of my brothers, Phillip, disputed my accounts, my other two brothers, Lindsay and Dennis confirmed my account. Sadly both Lindsay and Dennis later committed suicide by shooting themselves. I was on TV and in movies and recorded songs. One of the movies that I was in made famous the number 714. When the owner of The Dahn Report was working for a CPA firm in the LA area I met him when he delivered my tax return to my house. Who Am I?