“A random act of kindness is a selfless act performed by a person or people wishing either to assist or to cheer up an individual person or people. Either spontaneous or planned, random acts of kindness are encouraged by various communities.”
That is the definition of random act of kindness.
So, the other night, I was sitting around with some friends and we were talking about random acts of kindness and if any of us actually had ever extended ourselves selflessly for another person that we may or may not know. A couple of my friends said they often pay for someone’s coffee at the local drive-thru. One of my other friends said she “pays it forward” at the toll booth, which I do think is also a random act of kindness.
I’ve never really done either of those things to be honest. So when they asked me what random act of kindness I do or have done, the only thing I could think of was something I have been doing for 15 years or more. I have always had a connection to seniors. When I was a very young girl, I volunteered at the hospital and it seemed that most of the wonderful people I met at the time were a bit older. (Of course, when you’re 16 everyone seems older.) I loved meeting people and helping in any way I could. Even if it was just to put a smile on someone’s face.
Most recently my random act of kindness has been to go to nursing homes and assisted living facilities and play music.
It gives me so much pleasure to have, say, 50 to 60 people in the room, most over the age of 70. Many times the women have on their bright lipstick and pearl necklaces. It warms my heart to play all the music they listened to growing up.
I play Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Jerry Vale…you get the idea. All the songs that bring back wonderful memories for them. So many of the people are in wheelchairs and their arms are swaying. You can tell they’re having a good time.
Many times I see tears in their eyes, but “good tears” because you can tell they’re thinking about where they were and who they were with when they heard that song on the radio so many years ago.
Many of them get up and dance. Some dance alone and some grab a partner. One time I was only supposed to be at a nursing home for an hour. I ended up staying 2 ½ hours. They were all having a ball! They didn’t want to go and neither did I. Once, the coordinator at a nursing home said, “Believe me, if they weren’t having a good time, they would wheel themselves out of the room.”
I don’t think they realized I was enjoying myself just as much as they were…if not more!
Karen Blake is the host for The Karen & Ralphie Morning Show weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m. on The Q (WQRC 99.9 FM), Cape Cod’s Fresh Mix.
