Resolutions Update: Community

This year, I created not one, but several New Year's Resolutions geared toward personal growth. Since the year is now half over, I thought it was time for an update on the most complicated one: make a difference in the life of a stranger. It has been fun! Here is a report on the first 4 events in the Community category. "Paying it forward" feels good and is fun! Most of the time...

Retriever Aid.  Earlier this year, I posted about the Retrievers. I wonder how they are doing now?

Gave Blood.  Kathleen's church sponsored a blood drive, and I signed up. Donated blood provides immediate relief to a stranger having a bad day - goal met, and free! But sometimes I get queasy while bleeding into a pint bag, and once I passed out. It's not my favorite thing. However Dad's final surgery required 100 pints of blood, which blows my mind. Adult humans only have about 10 pints in their veins on a given day. In my lifetime I will never donate the amount of blood needed for a single surgery like dad's. I had NO queasiness or other emergencies at Kathleen's church, and enjoyed home made churchlady baked goods at the recovery table. What a good day. And a special thank-you to the universe for the women of the world who bake for charity.

Tony's Tip.  Marty took me out for a wonderful birthday dinner. Our food and service were excellent. I had a question for the server, Tony, about Albariño wine. He knew all about it, I tried it, and it was delicious. Tony advised Marty to order a cup of their rib eye chili - he loved it! After reading the dessert menu, I asked him what's the difference between chantilly, whipped cream and creme fraiche - he explained! Tony cleared our dishes promptly, and de-crumbed our table before coffee. My chantilly-drizzled coconut cake came with a lit candle on it (cute!), but no singing (thank God!). We left an obscene wad of cash on the table for him and skedaddled before he discovered it.

Hydrangeas.  This week, I filled a Ball jar with blooms from my hydrangea bush and left them on the sink in the ladies bathroom at work. After heating my lunch, I passed several residents (I work in Pediatrics) leaving the bathroom remarking how pretty the flowers were. Between our afternoon meetings, Jodi used the john and afterward said to me, "Did you see the flowers in the bathroom? I bet Diane did that. That's something Diane would do."  I replied, "Yes, probably Diane."

Fail: One Sunday, I cleaned out the freezer at the office. Two weeks prior, I put an anonymous note on the freezer door, asking coworkers to label all their food, or toss what they don't want prior to the cleaning. Thankfully, most of it was gone/labeled by the time I cleaned the freezer, revealing melted horrors on the left side - a strange, orange syrupy mess. A box of unclaimed heat-and-eat rice was frozen to it. I scraped and scraped at the mess until a gleaming freezer emerged. I would have needed a hazmat suit in another department, but our freezer was free from biologic samples and body fluids. Several handfuls of freezer burned and unclaimed food went into the trash. The 2 expired Lean Cuisine meals, I took home and ate later of course. So far, this freezer endeavor was the only random act of kindness that I did not enjoy. It was hard for me to remain cheerful and I found myself cursing careless colleagues, ruining the spirit of the task. Shame on me.

There are 6 months remaining in the year to find more opportunities to make a difference in someone else's life. I can't wait to see what inspires me!