Nov. 11 - Beautiful Beverly

Day 314 of a year of kindness

I met my friend Beverly nearly 20 years ago, back when I was writing a regular column called The Up Beat for our local newspaper. I focused on writing positive stories and described it as “news that’s a pleasure to read.”

At one point, I wrote about how Beverly and her friends decorated flip flops and provided them to children at the hospital. So many people donated flip flops to them after reading the column that I wrote a follow-up story to share the good news.

This morning, Beverly and I met for breakfast. She brought the newspaper clipping she had saved. We talked about how kindness is contagious - and how the flip flop story was a perfect example of its ripple effect.She had asked me to help with a writing project. 

Unfortunately, I can't help her right now but I invited another friend to join us - someone who can help her get it done quickly. We had a lovely time and they are going to work together.In the end, kindness is simply helping and connecting people in whatever way we can.

Science of Kindness: Science strongly supports that kindness activates reward systems in the brain, improves health, and strengthens social bonds. Kindness is not just emotional; it’s biological, psychological, and deeply relational. BeKind #KindnessCounts #KindnessCounts2025 #flipflops #kindnessmatters