Kindness is Contagious

Here is the thing about kindness- it is CONTAGIOUS.

As much as we at Together Rising love to help women in need, it absolutely fills us with joy when we hear stories like this one, sent by our Alison.

Our relationship with privacy has become a strange one. We all “share” things on social media, and are seemingly connected to so many people- but really we’re more alone than ever. We’re closed up in our houses, we’re hiding behind screens. We stay behind our fences and our walls. Most times, when someone asks you how you are, it feels like a rhetorical question.

We are desperate for real connection, but seem to have lost the knack for it. So we love hearing that the Together Rising community is giving people the courage to reach out to each other in tangible ways.

It started with an innocuous enough question. “What are your girls getting for Christmas?” Alison was having a casual conversation with her co-worker, Kristin. It could have been a surface encounter. Alison could have put out that vibe that says, “Don’t REALLY tell me.” And Kristin could have kept her walls up and given the shiny, happy answer.

That’s not what happened. Thank God, that’s not what happened.

A tiny little crack of sacred space opened up between these two women. Those cracks are always opportunities for connection.

Kristin told Alison about her eleven year old daughter who has some learning challenges. There is software that helps her to learn and do her school work, so she really needs a laptop of her own and there just wasn’t money enough to do that AND the fun stuff for Christmas.

As Alison said, “She was kind of worried and sad about that. She wasn’t complaining, and she wasn’t asking me for anything, because she’s a warrior mama if ever I met one. She was just tired, I think, and her girls were on her mind.”

Our Alison got to thinking how great it would be to do a Holiday Hands listing for Kristin, but she was concerned that they would need more than $100. She decided to see if she could work some magic. She worked up the courage to take advantage of the moment of connection they’d shared, and ask if she could help.

Alison’s husband is a tech guy, and so are his friends.

Here’s where it gets magical.

One friend had a laptop that was practically new. He drove a hard bargain. He asked for $20. And a sandwich.

The laptop had a few issues with the software Kristin’s daughter needed. Word got out, and because people really are very good, co-workers Alison’s husband didn’t even know started stopping by his desk, offering help. In no time at all, they had that laptop- as Alison put it, “juiced up like a racecar.”

When Kristin asked her what she owed her, Alison was able to say, “Not a thing.”

Our Alison said, “Even a few months ago, I would have sympathized with Kristin, and wanted to help her, but I would never have had the courage to even make the offer. But because of Holiday Hands, I saw all those mamas putting aside their pride, and asking. And I saw a little window open up between Kristin and me, and I took it. It was awesome.”

It really was, Alison.

There is grace in the giving, and there is grace in the receiving.

We Belong to Each Other. We really do.