This is my second post for the Random Acts of Kindness Blogfest. My Mom died many years ago but I still think of her often. As I was deciding on what to post for the blogfest, I remembered my Mom and her random act of kindness.
We lived in the Philippines, in Pasig City to be exact. We owned a small shop where Mom would spend her days helping customers find the right Hallmark card (e-cards did not exist then), panty hose, or other small gift items like pens and fashionable handkerchiefs.
One very hot summer, my Mom was standing near the entrance of the shop just watching people walk by. She was a man buying a plastic bag of ice water from the small general store next to our shop. Bottled water was not available then and people bought water in small plastic bags.
As the man was trying to hold the bag of water to his mouth so he could drink, he dropped it by accident and the bag burst. The man asked the person minding the store for some water but he was told that if he wanted water, he would need to buy another bag.
My Mom, who heard the exchange, called the man over to our shop. She then took the drinking glass she kept on a small desk behind the display cases and filled it with cold water that she kept in a bottle under the desk. She then gave the man a glass of water to drink. And then she offered the man more water which he gladly accepted.
Many months after that incident, my Mom died. Some weeks after she died, my sister was tending the shop and a man came by. He was asking my sister where the nice old lady was because he has not seen her in a while. My sister informed him that our mother had died weeks before. The man then told my sister about how my Mom gave him a drink of water on that hot summer's day.
It was an indescribable feeling to be reminded of our Mom at that time. Yet, I felt proud that at least someone other than people in our family will remember my Mom and her kindness long after she has gone.
