First, let me describe what it was like as we entered the 3rd floor.... We walked onto the floor and we see Doctors, nurses, and techs busy doing what they do. Filling out paperwork, responding to calling patients, checking vitals, discussing patients, paperwork and so on. We walk in with 4 dozen roses and explain that we would like to walk the halls and pass out flowers to the patients to brighten their day. We get the weirdest looks and responses. We heard, "so you just want to take flowers in random rooms" and "who are you with?" So I explain that we are not with any affiliation and that this is my "Random Act's of Kindness Birthday Party." When the Dr. immediately turns towards me and says..."There are no patients with restrictions, Go for it!"
So, we looked down all 3 halls and walked towards this one particular wing first. We entered the first room and saw this sweet elderly lady (we learned she was 96) laying there all cuddled up in a blanket and all that you could see was her little, sweet face. Her daughter was next to her bed and she just smiled so big and was so grateful for a flower. She turned to her elderly mom and said, "they brought you a flower." I explained that it was my birthday and instead of doing something for myself, my greatest joy and happiness comes from brightening someone else's day. The elderly lady looked me right in my eyes and gave the slightest nod. I knew that she heard me. There was such a peace in the room. I hugged the daughter and said that we would be praying for them. She was so grateful. The daughters smile and the elderly lady's eyes continue to linger in my mind.
There was a different story in every room that we entered. One room we entered was an old, cute and flirty man. He was delighted for 7 women to enter his room with flowers for him. He made us laugh! His smile was so big and he didn't want us to leave.
In another room, the sweetest little lady, upon sight of us walking in the room with flowers and smiles caused tears to stream down her face. She couldn't believe that we wanted to do such a thing. Another room we entered was a man that said, " I knew that someone would come to pray for me."
In another room, we found complete sadness and loneliness and instant tears streaming down her face. She just cried and told us that she felt so alone and she didn't have anyone to come visit her and that our flowers meant more than we would ever know. Knowing that we couldn't stay with her for very long, I offered to pray with her. She said, Yes, please. I prayed that she would know that she was never alone and that she would feel comforted as she finished her stay in the hospital. We hugged and promised to keep praying for her. And that I have done.
Another room was a very sick gentleman that was sunken in his bed and had his head completely covered by his blanket. I said, "knock knock, is anyone under there?" He uncovered his head, and asked us what we wanted. I explained that we were bringing him a flower to brighten his day. He wasn't to thrilled by my remarks and I continued to tell him that it was my birthday, (I noticed when others know your heart it helps to open up theirs) So, I continued to explain, instead of doing something for myself, my joy and happiness comes from making others happy. He gave another tiny smirk, and all of a sudden, he told me that he used to be a gospel singer and that since I was bringing him a rose on my birthday that he would sing and one of his original songs for me. He asked me to hand him his phone and he searched for his lyrics. He began singing. I teared up while he sang, cause I realized that he was all of a sudden doing something that he loved and made him happy. After he finshed his song, I noticed the tears coming out of his eyes. I was so grateful that even for a moment, we could take his mind off of all that he was going through.
Our time at the hospital was full of these stories. Not just another room and patient; but a life and a story. I could go on and on and on about all 45 rooms we entered. As we left out of the last room, I saw my daughter Hayley finishing up a conversation with one of the nurses that had asked, "why we were doing this" and "who we were with." They couldn't believe that someone would just come and do this. But you could ask anyone one of us and hear the same response...that we couldn't wait to do it all over again! And we aren't even gonna wait for another birthday!
As we left the final room and handed out our final rose... we realized that in the very first hall, the hall that we felt inspired to begin with. We had given someone, what would be their final rose here on earth. As we realized the magnitude of our service that day, we paused for a moment. We were all shocked that we were the last contact that patient had. Tears streamed down our faces as we imagined that their moments was our random act of kindness and love in being the recipient of our rose.
We felt complete JOY that day and will continue to in our memories forever. What if your small act was the one thing that turned sadness into hope, or gave someone a moment of joy. Maybe, your kindness could touch a soul that felt alone. Maybe, you could save a life. Or maybe even your random act may be the very last act of kindness that was performed for someone. Be a blessing to others!
FIND JOY IN RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS!
Please share your stories of random acts of kindness with me.....
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