On a day of insanity, both actions were
a reminder that we really do live in an amazing community.
To cap off an overwhelming week last
Friday, the state of Michigan basically shut down for the rest of the
month. Schools were closed, people were told to avoid large groups,
and it seemed like every single community organization, from the
library to the Children's Museum, shut down for the next few weeks.
And knowing that some vulnerable people—children--rely on schools
for things like meals, a bunch of local restaurants made sure that
they'd still be fed. Some offered themselves as a place for
makeshift food banks, where anyone could drop off food, while other
started offering kids free lunches, no questions asked.
No matter what, if kids need a lunch,
at least here around Marquette, they'll be fed.
The other action? Well, last Friday
was also “Spread Goodness Day”, in which you were supposed to do
a kind act or to somehow pay it forward. It was supposed to be a day
to throw a little sunshine in an occasionally gloomy world. Halfway
through my afternoon I received a phone call from someone who didn't
want to tell me her name. She just wanted to thank me for writing
the article last week about Charlie Pong. Thanking me was one of
her acts of goodness for the day.
She also wanted to let me know that she
had been so moved by what she read that, once the snow melts, she
plans on heading over to Park Cemetery to find a grave that looks
like no one's paid attention to in years, much like the way I found
Charlie Pong's. She then hopes to clean it up and adopt it, and
maybe even find something out about the person who's buried there.
Wow.
In the total insanity of the day I'd
kind of forgotten that it was “Spread Goodness Day”. I actually
felt that, with telling people what was going on, that I was more
like the Grim Reaper than anything else. But the actions of the
local restaurants and the call from anonymous lady made me realize
that, at least around here, every day is “Spread Goodness Day”.
Things just kind of came together to allow everyone to spread a
little goodness on the actual “Spread Goodness Day”.
I know both of those things threw that
proverbial sunshine into my gloomy world last Friday.
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