What's The Kindest Thing Anyone Has Ever Done For You?

JStew & Cori with you, and we asked Monday's show, in honor of World Kindness Day, which was this past Friday: What's the kindest thing anyone's ever done for you?

JStew: I guess without a doubt, probably one of the kindest acts ever, was my mom giving my wife and I the down payment for our first house. We'd just gotten married, and literally didn't have more than two pennies to rub together. We tried hard to save moeny, but we were young, and didn't have super high paying jobs. We knew how to manage our money, but it would've taken us years to save up for it on our own. I know parents bail their kids out all the time, but this was different. My mom knew we could do it, we just needed a little boost. My mom rules, and I love her very much.

Cori: I consider myself very blessed to have been the recipient of several acts of kindness. It's humbling, really.

One that truly stands out as unbelievable to me happened just before Christmas of 2017. I had unexpectedly been thrown into the situation of being a single mom, just a few months before. I was still trying to figure out how I was going to make ends meet, let alone provide any kind of Christmas for my kids. I had an oil tank to fill and a mortgage payment to make. I had "retired" in 2011, when my second child was born and had been, up until that point, been a stay-at-home, homeschooling mom of 4. So I was also trying to find my way back into the workforce, which meant enrolling my 3 oldest kids in school. Outside of my family, not too many people knew what was going on. One day, when I went to pick up my daughters from school, as I was walking up to get them, a mom who's daughter was in my daughter's class, came over and handed me a small gift bag. I didn't know this mom well; just from morning drop-off and afternoon pick up. So I was surprised by the gesture, but accepted the bag graciously and went on to pick up my kids and head home.

Hours later, when the chaos of the day had died down, I remembered the bag, which I had set down on the kitchen counter and promptly forgotten about till then. I opened it and saw some chocolates and a card. Delighted by the thought of a grown-up mom snack, I popped a chocolate into my mouth and opened the card.

I almost choked on my chocolate when I saw what was in the card. And then I started to cry.

There were two gift cards, with an amount I won't name--but I can assure you, I was able to fill my oil tank and get all the kids some gifts that year.

This woman, on behalf of her family (she explained this to me later, when I tracked her down to thank her) had heard about my situation and wanted to pay it forward. She said her family had been helped in a time of need, and they wanted to help others now that they were in a position to do so.

I was floored. And humbled. And moved. It was amazing. And it made a time, which for the most part was one of the darkest moments in my adult life, so much brighter because of their kindness. I will never forget what they did, as long as I live.

And from your responses, there are many folks out there who are performing some amazing acts of kindness

Kari Jo Davis "1 week after Christmas 1988, my family home was destroyed by fire. It was 80 degrees below zero with the wind chill. I can't tell you how the community stepped up for us. Shelter, food, clothing, toiletries... within a day. I'll never forget."

Jessi Mallory "One kind moment I can recall... I was about 11 years old. My Father took me to McDonald's in Bangor one day. It was a treat then, as we didn't have much money. He ordered at the drive thru, and his car died. I can't imagine the feeling my Father had, as we didn't have much money, and he knew we'd have to get the car towed. An older man and his wife were behind us. The man talked to my Father as he helped to push the car out of the drive thru and into a parking spot. My Dad thanked him and walked to the window to pay for the food and the man said, "I've taken care of it." My Dad thanked him and grabbed the food we'd ordered. My Father gave me my Happy Meal and we sat on the curb to eat. I'm sure my Father was trying to figure out how to get our car to a shop, while I ate. The older man and his wife pulled in next to us. He told my Dad that he'd called a tow company to come take us and our car to a nearby shop. My Dad sprang up and said, "Thank you so much, but I can't afford a tow." The man said, "I took care of it." My Father, being the humble type and not able to accept help easily, told him that he really didn't have to do that " The man's wife told us that her husband lived for things like this. The tow truck came, and took us and the car to a shop. We saw the man and his wife follow us in. The man told the mechanics to figure out what was wrong and fix it. He wanted to pay for the repairs. My Father was blown away, as was I. No one had been so kind before. We didn't expect this. We were used to not living on much. A dead car meant a hard road ahead. The man and his wife smiled the whole time, chatted with us, laughed, paid the bill... My Dad asked for his address so he could send him money towards the bill. The man smiled and said, "You've already paid me back." I'll never forget it. I learned then what true, selfless help felt like. I've spent my life helping the less fortunate.

Greg Miller "Long story ... 2001 when my kids were still both attending Asa Adams my hot water boiler quit and as a single father I was barely making ends meet. I was using a space heater and whatever wood I could scrounge up for heat. One day in December I got a call from the school principle saying she had someone that wanted to do something for a family and would it be okay if she sent someone in to check the boiler. Well got the call later and sure enough it was no longer viable and replacement was more than the individual wanted to pay. My response was "that's okay I didn't really expect it to be, but thanks for thinking of me" . Later that day I got another call. F. W. Webb donated a boiler and the crew at Irving energy donated their time they started working on removing the boiler at 5 that evening and we had heat (a full tank of oil was also donated) going by 11. It doesn't end there though. A couple days later the principle calls again to tell me I should probably stop by the house before picking up my kids at daycare. I walked into the house and in the living room around the Christmas tree was loaded with gifts for the kids. Needless to say I was floored. I never asked for any of that. To this day I do what little I can to give back (or pay it forward)."

What we loved most about the comments was Wendy sharing her story about Maine energy, and Maine energy responding to her about how happy they were to help! How cool is that!! Check it out below:

Wendy Clewley On Valentines day I got a surprise knock on the door from Maine Energy Inc. along with flowers chocolates & the local news crew.I got a free fuel delivery & that was just the most kindness thing ever to help me. I was on tv too...

And Maine Energy Inc. responded too....Wendy Clewley I was so happy to be able to deliver that to you. It is one of the best days of the year for me as well. Seeing the smiles and surprise tickles the heart!