by Mary Fahnestock-Thomas, Hamilton
It’s the particular season for kindness, right? And kindness has been mentioned in some recent letters here and I want to join in.
To me kindness is a newspaper that prints all the letters it receives whether it agrees with them or not (thank you, Bitterroot Star!).
To me kindness is a garage that figures out an affordable way to fix our car defroster just in time for a snowy trip to Minnesota (thank you, Mastiff Mechanic!).
To me kindness is a heating company that comes when it says it will to fix our old heating system and keeps coming back until we really have reliable heat and doesn’t seem to be in a rush with the bill (thank you, Comfort Solutions!).
To me kindness is a general contractor who is out of town when it suddenly starts raining in our garage but who immediately finds someone to deal with it (thank you, AllPro!).
To me kindness is someone who shares their considerable gifts and energy with the community (thank you, Robin Pruitt and Barbara Liss and so many others!).
To me kindness is helping people who suddenly find themselves in difficult situations, be it a house fire, a car wreck, an illness, a broken limb, an unintended pregnancy, or any other accident.
To me kindness is not judging any life or way of life other than my own, because I can never really know what anyone else is dealing with.
The Dalai Lama says his religion is kindness; I’m with him.