Kindness Never Dies

About a decade ago, I moved into a house in a close-knit neighborhood. I was young and did not have a lot of responsibilities. The family in the house next to me was expecting their second child. The woman had also just taken a new, stressful job, and her family had a cat who was a bit of a curmudgeon.

Somehow, I don't really remember the details, we worked out that I would take care of the cat for the summer. This cat moved into my house, in which I had several roommates, and proceeded to be a grumpy cat who I did find delightful, even if she would give you a quick swipe if you weren't performing to her standards.

Then, just the other day, nearly thirteen years later, I ended up at a barbecue in that same neighborhood. I had lived in multiple places since that summer, and I'd lost track of that cat's owners.

And in an unexpected twist of fate, those same long-lost neighbors were there, even though they too had moved out of town nearly a decade prior.

We reconnected, and in the process of getting each other up to date on the last decade plus of our lives, the woman told me I had come up in conversation just the other day.

She worked part time as a consultant, and was on a zoom call with a woman who she vaguely recognized.

"And I told her," my long-ago-neighbor said, "that she looked familiar. And she told me that back in the day she was your roommate and she helped take care of my cat!"

Then the woman went on to tell me how much that had meant to her, that I had agreed to help her with the cat at such a pivotal time in her life. She said it still really meant a lot to her.

Meanwhile, I was trying to remember this summer, and the deal I'd struck to basically catnap someone's else cat for a summer. This did sound like a thing I would do, but I didn't immediately remember it.

Then I did! I had taken care of that cat, and even though she was a little mean, I really liked her. I mean, I like pretty much all cats, so that's not saying much. What really struck me though was that this happened over a decade ago and while my grey matter had nearly forgotten the pathways to that memory, this woman still remembered it as a true act of kindness.

Kindness lingers. It stays in our memories and it makes us better. No act is to small, and you don't need a reason. Be kind. You have no idea what it could mean to someone else, or how long it could positively affect someone.