Imagine A World Where We Gave Like Every Day Was Christmas

In a world where I still believe that most people are genuinely kind at heart, I am never disappointed by the generosity exhibited around the Holidays. The story of the anonymous donors at Kmart moved me to tears — not because of the physical gift-giving itself, but because of what the person who wanted to give, yet couldn’t afford, was able to give with the assistance of the donor.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The young father stood in line at the Kmart layaway counter, wearing dirty clothes and worn-out boots. With him were three small children.

He asked to pay something on his bill because he knew he wouldn’t be able to afford it all before Christmas. Then a mysterious woman stepped up to the counter.

“She told him, ‘No, I’m paying for it,’” recalled Edna Deppe, assistant manager at the store in Indianapolis. “He just stood there and looked at her and then looked at me and asked if it was a joke. I told him it wasn’t, and that she was going to pay for him. And he just busted out in tears.”

At Kmart stores across the country, Santa seems to be getting some help: Anonymous donors are paying off strangers’ layaway accounts, buying the Christmas gifts other families couldn’t afford, especially toys and children’s clothes set aside by impoverished parents.

Before she left the store Tuesday evening, the Indianapolis woman in her mid-40s had paid the layaway orders for as many as 50 people. On the way out, she handed out $50 bills and paid for two carts of toys for a woman in line at the cash register.

“She was doing it in the memory of her husband who had just died, and she said she wasn’t going to be able to spend it and wanted to make people happy with it,” Deppe said. The woman did not identify herself and only asked people to “remember Ben,” an apparent reference to her husband. – Yahoo! News

While I am no advocate of frivolous material purchases, I can understand wanting to give someone you love a special gift. It’s a terrible feeling when you can’t give a person what they want — especially a child. So, it was this bridging of the gap between the desire to give a special gift and the financial limitations that wouldn’t allow it, that made my eyes well up with tears.

I have always loved the Holidays for many reasons, but mostly because people are a much more kind and gentle version of themselves. But what if we didn’t limit this behavior to Christmastime?

Close your eyes and imagine not thinking, “that’s someone else’s problem, not mine.” Imagine a smile between strangers not warranting suspicion or clutching your wallet or purse. Imagine not feeling the need to hoard or save precious resources because there’s enough to go around. Imagine looking at someone else whose life is nothing like yours, yet still being able to focus on what you have in common — not the differences. Imagine seeing someone in need and not questioning their motives or judging how they ended up in the circumstance before lending a hand.

Once you’ve finished imagining all of this, open your eyes. What do you see? I still see that world we imagined. I see a world where we give every day like it was Christmas — and yes, it does bring tears to my eyes…

Source:
Anonymous donors pay off Kmart layaway accounts

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Cheri

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