I remember my time, some years ago now, living in South Dakota, and working at a small law firm there, where I got to know the richest lady in town, Donna Barlowe.
Donna had come from a meager background, but persevered, and as an adult she became a waitress at the local diner. Through this job she met and fell in love with the richest guy in town. Their story was local folklore.
Another woman in town, Mary Sue, worked as a secretary in the local mall office, had twin baby girls, an older pre-teen boy, and an out of work husband (not for lack of trying, hard). Mary Sue pretty much supported the family for several years, as the local factory where her husband worked had shut down. It was hard to make ends meet.
Donna Barlowe was always friendly with Mary Sue, and knew about her struggles. She knew Mary Sue was in trouble financially.
One day, out of the blue, Donna sent Mary Sue a letter asking if she would do a favor for her.
“You see, Mary Sue," she said, "my husband and I bought this huge piece of property and there is a nice, small house sitting on it. We want the house moved because we sure can’t use it, and we don’t know anyone but your husband who could do the job right. We were wondering if he would like to move it for us and in exchange for doing so, he could just have the house. Matter of fact, we have an old piece of property we’ve been wanting to get rid of … if you wanted to move the house to that piece of property, you could have the land, too.”
Of course, what Donna was doing was a great kindness in disguise –to protect Mary Sue’s pride.
Mary Sue’s husband did move that house and they did put the house on that old piece of property the Barlowes wanted to get rid of. Old Mr. Churchill at my firm drew up the papers, free of charge, of course.
"Oh," he said, "it just took a few minutes of my lunch hour - I wasn't doing anything else and I needed to refresh my memory on drawing deeds anyway. This was a nice, quick project for me."
When all was said and done, Donna Barlowe sent Mary Sue a thank you note, for helping her out with that house and land. “It sure took a load off my mind,” she said.
Donna Barlowe rode by Mary Sue’s house often, waving as she saw the kids running and playing in the new yard. It was really convenient because the house was right next to the new school they now attended. Everyone was happy there.
I lived some of my best days in South Dakota, and I saw kindness in action. I will never forget Donna Barlowe --or Mr. Churchill, for that matter. I try to follow their examples.
Kindness counts.