10 Stories That Prove Pure Kindness and Compassion Still Exist, Even When the World Feels Too Busy to Care

• I visited my dad at his nursing home every Friday. Last week his room was empty. A nurse said, “His son moved him yesterday.”
  I don’t have a brother. I called 911 from the parking lot, hands shaking. The officer said, “Don’t worry, your father is safe.”
  Turns out the nurse was new. She’d mixed me up with another resident’s daughter, since some residents share the same last name. She’d gotten confused while helping families locate loved ones after several residents were relocated due to an emergency maintenance issue.
  When I got there, I found my dad laughing with an elderly woman whose family hadn’t visited in months. He’d been keeping her company because the sudden move had scared her.
  “She looked lonely,” he said with a smile. “I know what that feels like.” I’d gone looking to make sure my dad was okay. Instead, I found him making sure someone else was.

• I was working as a producer on a talk radio show. The show I was working on wasn’t terribly popular, so we really wouldn’t get many callers.
  So, on my birthday, I’m working like any other day, when some guy calls in and gets his entire family to sing me happy birthday. He had never even called before, and hasn’t since. I’ve never met him. My day was instantly awesome.
  Edit: The caller knew it was my birthday because one of the hosts of the talk show said happy birthday to me at the opening of the show.

• My great-uncle made a habit of showing up to services for townsfolk he barely knew, sitting in the back, eating all the refreshment sandwiches, and not saying a word to anyone. My whole family thought he was an insensitive freeloader.
  When he passed away, a stranger showed up at his service, pushed through the crowd and told us that, when his own wife passed years ago, my great-uncle sat next to him for six hours straight without speaking.
  “Nobody in my family could even look me in the eye, out of pity,” the man said. “He was the only one who just stayed there, so I wouldn’t be completely alone in that empty room.”
  Turns out, my great-uncle read the local notices every morning, looking for gatherings that had almost no visitors listed.

• One of my most vivid childhood memories is of me at the local grill with my parents, and I was like 6 and looking at a very specific doll in a claw machine. It was Tweety Bird in a spacesuit. I was so zoned out, I didn’t even know someone had walked up until the claw came down, picked it up, and dropped it in the chute in one fell swoop.
  I turned to see a man taking the Tweety Bird out of the chute and immediately bending down and handing it to me. Neither of us said anything, just smiled at each other, and then he turned and walked out of the restaurant.

• When my mother grew too old to live on her own, I told my husband, “We need to bring her to live with us.” His reaction was tense and distant.
  He looked away and asked, “Wouldn’t it be better to look into a specialized retirement community instead? Is this really a good idea?” I felt deeply disappointed by his response.
  Once my mother moved into our spare room, the tension only got worse. During dinner, my husband barely spoke, ate as quickly as possible, and left the table without saying a word. I was frustrated, convinced he was resentful of having my mother in our house.
  A few weeks later, I went down to the basement to fetch a storage box and stopped in my tracks. My husband was standing by the workbench. He had his back to me, wiping his eyes. When he heard me, he turned around, his voice shaking.
  “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “Seeing her getting so elderly and fragile… it brings back everything from when my own mother was at this stage. I felt so helpless back then, and every time I look at your mom, it makes me emotional all over again.”
  He wiped his face and looked me in the eye. “I shouldn’t have pulled away. I’m going to do better.” From that evening on, he became her primary companion.

• I was on a trip in Norway, and it was literally my last night in the city and the country. I missed the midnight train, but no problem, I could still take the first train in the morning. In the meantime, I went to the dock, because that’s where all the nightlife was.
  The place closed at 2 a.m. and the train passed at 5 a.m., so a guy I had met there told me, “There’s no way you’re gonna spend three hours walking around,” and he took me to his house. He gave me the worst coffee I’ve ever had, and we spent those three hours talking.
  Then, he took me to the train station, bought my ticket to the airport, and before he left, he told me, “I haven’t slept, so tomorrow I might not remember you, but it’s been a pleasure helping you.”

• I can’t swim. One time, when I was a little kid (around 6), my friend took me to her local pool. It was great when we were in the shallow end, but she thought it would be a good idea to jump off of the diving board, and she made me do it too.
  I landed in the water and realized, “Wait, this is terrible, I can’t swim at all!” so I latched like a parasite to the closest grown up and shouted, “TO THE SHALLOW END!” They swam with me on their back until I could stand up in the water.

• Christmas Eve a couple of years back. I had worked a shift at the hospital (not a doc or high paid person), and was trying my best to get to my family’s house, about two hours away, before dinner. The brakes on my car just were not working right. It was snowing like crazy, and I was thinking there was no hope.
  I saw the local mechanic was still open, so I pulled in and told him what was going on. Half an hour or so later, he came out and told me what was wrong and that he had gone ahead and fixed it. I asked him what I owed him for the work. He said, get home to your family safe, and have a merry Christmas.
  I felt like I was in a Hallmark movie. It is now the only place I will take my car.

• I was an American in China, and six months expecting a baby. I was at the train terminal, and the hormones kicked in. I started crying for literally no reason, which only made me cry harder.
  A very tiny old Chinese woman grabbed my shoulder and said something I don’t understand. She then grabbed me and gave me a huge hug. When she pulled away, she gave me a great smile. It was exactly what I needed.

• I was walking to the pet store to buy my dog some tasty food for her last day on this planet when a man living on the street was walking towards me. I was ready to tell him that change comes from within, and he reached into his pocket and thrust $30 towards me.
  I tell him that I don’t need his money, but he persists. Again, I say no thank you, and he says if I don’t take it, he’s going to throw the money on the ground. Which he does.
  I ask him why he wants to give his money away. He pulls out a wad of money, looks at me and says, “Because I’ve got thousands.” He turns and walks away.
  I used it to buy my dog’s last meals. A drink that I shared with her, and some bandages for her leg. I miss her.

What unexpected moments of compassion or quiet kindness have brought hope, happiness, and wisdom into your own family life this year?