Kindness

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.

~ Aesop

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Leslie has some special dishes she likes to use at Christmas. When I was working on stuff in the garage while she was in PA last year around this time, I pulled a few decorations for the little tree I had gotten. I also saw her dishes. 

At first I wasn't going to get them out. However, Leslie really likes having Christmas dinner off of those dishes. And they were right there. With the tumblers and the wine glasses and the placemats. Why would I NOT get them out? But still, I almost didn't.

"If we get them out, we'll just have to put them away again," I said to myself. Of course the same was true for the string of lights and the little bulbs and the one ornament I had just gotten out. And she loves those dishes. They are important to her.

So, I brought out dishes. I put them on a shelf in the laundry room so they were out of the way, but easy to get when dinner time came on Christmas. Then I sort of forgot I did that.

A week or so later - on Christmas Eve - Leslie came and said, "I know you probably think this is silly, but I really want to use the Christmas dishes for dinner tomorrow." I gave her a look - mainly because I had forgotten that I didn't tell her I had gotten them out. I think she read my look as resistance. "I'll get them out and I'll put them away," she said - trying to convince me.

I realized I hadn't told her and that she must not have seen the dishes on the shelf. 

"I got them out already. They're in the laundry room. I got the dishes and the tumblers and the wine glasses. The only thing I didn't get was the relish dish thing. I am not sure where that is."

She stared at me. Then she thanked me. "That was so nice," she said.

"I did something nice," I agreed. 

"You do nice things all the ti--  Well, most of the time," she agreed.