acts + jillian

i have been very moved by all of the acts of kindness, and i am thankful for the good that can come from something so unbearable.

+++ lisa's act of kindness is dedicated to lauren gabrielle rousseau, and here is an update from lisa:
“I wanted to update you on my act(s) of kindness dedicated to Lauren Gabrielle Rousseau. I often go to a Starbucks drive thru near the girls’ school. About a month ago, someone paid for my drink. When I got to the window to pay and he said I didn’t owe anything, I was totally confused. He said it was already paid for and I was still totally confused. No one had ever done that for me and I had no idea people even did that. The person had driven away and was gone before I even got to see what they looked like. Such a small act of kindness by someone who did not even know who I was just made my whole day and left me feeling happy for quite some time. I have done this now for people behind me a couple times, and have thought of Lauren each time I did. Hopefully it brought them a little slice of happiness.

Also, the girls and I are planning to take items to Children’s Hospital off their wish list for toys and personal items.”

 

+++ denise's act of kindness is dedicated to daniel barden, and she made a donation to the pullman fire department in support of their first aid & cpr classes. daniel dreamed of being a firefighter like his uncles, and firefighters lined the streets in his honor.

 

+++ chris's acts of kindness is dedicated to noah pozner, and here is an update from chris:

"It is so hard to imagine the weight of the grief in Newtown, as heavy
as it feels here all the way across the country, for those of us who
didn’t even know any of these families. As the mama of a 6 ½ year old
first grader and 2 ½ year old boy/girl twins, this tragedy really hit
home. When I learned that Noah Pozner was a twin, whose sister
survived in another classroom, my heart ached even more for his
family. In memory of Noah, and in honor of his twin sister Arielle, I
donated the book “Always my Twin – for young children who have
experienced the death of their twin sibling” to our local public
library. In hopes of helping his grieving parents and others, I made
a donation to CLIMB – The Center for Loss in Multiple Birth."

 

+++ jen's act of kindness will be dedicated to olivia engel

 

+++ i also wanted to share with all of you this comment that i received on the last post i wrote about the acts of kindness: "Hi Alli, You might think this strange or serendipitous but I felt compelled to write you. I found your blog from my sister's website and this random act of kindess of yours has come full circle. You see, my dear friend from high school is Rachel D'avino's cousin. I hope you don't mind that I shared your tribute with her because it is my prayer that her family will find comfort in knowing that she continues to touch lives. Her legacy will live on because of souls like you and Kris to spread her message. Thank you so much! -Kristin"

+++ in the world of melanoma, today was a sad day. as her mom posted, "It is with deep regret and a broken heart that I tell you, Jillian Hayes-Wagner's job here on Earth is complete. It is up to us to continue to share and to spread her light." i have posted about jillian before, and this was the latest post from her mom right before christmas. there were other things that i had intended to write about today related to melonoma and how i am feeling about my upcoming scans. but i don't want to spend time thinking about how i feel about things going on with me. i want to spend my time sending a lot of love out to jillian's family. i am so thankful her mom shared her courageous story with the rest of the world, although of course i wish there never would have been a melanoma story to share.

 

rest in peace jillian. you will always, always be remembered.