I really love this series that we are doing. I enjoy reading everyone's stories and love that we can share these with you. If you think about it, the act of kindness can be found all around you. It can be as simple as someone holding the door for you, or you paying for a meal for someone else. Whatever the act or gesture, it is sure to make a lasting impression on someone, somewhere. 

Recently Cory and I were in Wichita to celebrate his Grandfather's 90th Birthday. It was going to be a quick trip, getting there late Friday evening and having to leave very early Monday morning. When we got there, we hit the ground running. We had to pick up food trays, shovel the 1/4 mile-gravel driveway so family could park, make dinner for 20-something people and that was just for Saturday. Sunday was the big party and there was so much more to do. 

Many family members came up to thank me for helping my Mother-in-Law put together such a lovely event. I just smiled and said that it was really nothing. Because, it really was nothing, I enjoyed helping her and thought nothing of it. It was like second nature to help out. 

On Sunday, or party did not go as planned. We had to cancel at the last minute because of the snow. We still had family over at the house, and we scrambled to put it all together at the last minute. We had a fantastic time at the house, but late that night, some of the family decided it would be nice to go to a restaurant. I couldn't have agreed more and was more than happy to have a meal that we didn't have to scramble at the last minute to prepare. 

We went to a lovely up-scale Mexican restaurant and almost had the whole place to ourselves. There were 16 of us who ended up going and it was such a nice time had by all. When the time came to pay at the end of the meal, several family members had stated they'd like to pay for our meal. What we didn't know is that when the bill came, the entire party had been paid for by a cousin who hadn't seen the family in years. 

We were all shocked. I couldn't believe that someone would be so willing to pay for 16 people's dinner. When asked why he had paid for everyone, his response was " I didn't pay for a single thing this whole weekend, and look at the hospitality that we were provided. The food that was made for us, the effort that was put into everything, you just can't put a price on family." 

I was so touched that what we had planned, the whole weekend festivities, was being taken into account by someone else. And, that they had noticed the amount of effort that my Mother-in-Law had put into this mini reunion of sorts. We had a lasting impression on him, and he felt the strong urge to pay it forward for all of us. 

Now it's my turn to pay it forward to someone else, and I can't wait to see where it leads me!