Gratitude for Unknown Things
“Never get tired of doing the little things for others, sometimes those little things occupy the biggest parts of their hearts.” — unknown
The eight of us are standing in line at our favorite ice cream parlor in Linden Hills. After ordering his ice cream, I see the young man that my daughter has recently started dating, head outside to the courtyard. Balancing a dish of ice cream in one hand he begins dragging and arranging chairs around one of the tables. One by one, the members of our party get their ice cream and head out to the sitting area. When they reach the table they find that there is an available chair for every one of them.
The members of our group are completely unaware of what he has done. Either they didn’t give it a thought, or they assumed that the exact number of chairs needed to sit our family magically appeared around the table. Either way, it doesn’t matter. There were enough chairs for everyone, and he placed them there.
We sat around the table talking, enjoying our ice creams, and the warm Minneapolis evening. I glanced back as we began the walk back to my son and daughter-in-law’s house. I saw this young man returning the chairs to the places from where they had come.
We all know the feeling of gratitude when someone does something little for us: The person who lets us go ahead of them in the grocery line when we are in a hurry. A friend who unexpectedly shows up on our doorstep on a day when we are feeling low. The stranger that rushes ahead of you to open the door when your arms are full and it is pouring rain.
We have a face to thank for the kindness that these people have extended to us. There is a pair of ears that can hear our grateful, “Thank you.”
The unknown author of the quotation states that “sometimes those little things occupy the biggest places of their hearts.” I agree that little things do indeed bring a lot of joy into our lives and lift our spirits.
But what about the things that we are unaware of? The incalculable number of little UNKNOWN things that every day, ordinary, people have UNKNOWINGLY done for us?
We have no face to thank for their kindnesses. The people, like the author of this quotation, are unknown to us. What place do they occupy in our hearts? Perhaps it is the unknown kindnesses that people extend, and we receive, that occupy the biggest places in our hearts.
With Love & Energy by the Pond,
Laurel
laurel@energybythepond.com
Post Script: I am very grateful that the young man in this story became my son-in-law.
