‘Tis the Season

Kindness all around

I love the holiday season; not because of the gift gifting so much but because there is a spirit of kindness in the air that compares to no other time of year.

Last Saturday I traveled to Augusta to the Veterans cemetery with three Sweetland School learners and a friend. For a couple of years I’ve considered going to Arlington Cemetery in Washington, D.C. to participate in Wreaths Across America Day. Over 1,600 locations across the US, at sea and abroad participate. The mission of Wreaths Across America Day is to Remember our fallen US veterans, Honor those who serve and Teach your children the value of freedom.

I love knowing that the balsam fir wreaths are created and transported by tractor trailers from Downeast Maine. We arrived at 10 a.m. on Saturday in the pouring rain and found about 200 people crowded at the back of a tractor trailer; each person was handed a box of 9 wreaths.

The act of carefully placing a wreath at the head of every other gravestone, saying the deceased name out loud and having a quiet moment felt like the kindness act of the season. Time stood still each time we placed a wreath and said the person’s name. Needless to say I was so proud of the three young people who took the task seriously and ignored the buckets of rain that didn’t let up throughout. As we drove away there was a feeling of peacefulness throughout the landscape.

There are plenty of opportunities to perform acts of kindness during the holidays, alone or with a group. If possible involve young people in the act – we all know how important it is to be kind and to teach kindness. I think there’s no better way to teach it but by example alongside young people. I hope you’ll pause during the holiday and perform an act of kindness in some way. ‘Tis the Season’.