For Day 8 of the Ten Days of Random Kindness I requested  some assistance.    I decided to ask Nancy  about the most special random act of kindness anyone has done for her.   I was rather surprised by her answers.    It was not about any material gift of flowers or other gifts, although those were great.   While people were so so kind  and  compassionate  when her husband had a stroke,  that too was not the only act of kindness that brought her to tears.

Even though the most memorable gifts were probably years ago, “the words still sing in her heart!”   Don’t judge me.   Those are her words, not mine.     As I reflected on this answer, I wondered, what words?   Inquiring to elaborate further as to the words, she only could say that they were from the few people that really knew her music and her soul.   She said it did not matter much now.   Kindness in words means something different for everyone.

I realize that she was being extremely evasive, until she invited me to listen to her play saxophone.  How could I learn random kindness by listening to her play saxophone?  Wait….I am listening and I think because I want to understand the music behind that mask of a saxophone, I too hear it.  She warned me that I may not hear the words spoken back to her when I listened.   But, it is there…….I now believe so now she believed me in some words I shared too.

KIndness in words of truth, spoken from the heart that feed the soul for many years.  No, I won’t ask Nancy’s assistance on this project again.  She is far too emotional and analytical about kindness.  Also, I never did pry it out of her those kind words spoken to her years ago, except that they related to her music and some of her writing.

Maybe the most random kindness can be whispering words of encouragement to ourselves when no one else understands us?

Thank you Michael Linton for this amazing piece you wrote for Nancy years ago.  She said, hopefully you can record it in the next ten years!