Archive for the ‘26 Tuesdays’ Category

11
Jun

26 Tuesdays: Caroline Previdi…

sweet girl

Last week’s 26 Tuesdays honoree was Noah Pozner. Noah had a great heart, according to those who knew him. This is about all we know of Noah and so, I wondered how I was going to do something that would involve just caring and having a great heart. Thankfully, my answer was given to me quite easily and randomly.

As I was returning home one day, I noticed a lawn care and landscaping truck and trailer turning and going up the street where I live. As they turned, they lost a gas can off the back of the low trailer. They started to increase speed to go up the hill and I realized they had no idea they had lost one of their gas cans. How was I going to flag them down, since I was quite far behind them? I honked my car horn several times in rapid succession and they finally stopped further up the hill, quite obviously surprised by my honking.

I stopped my car near the gas can and hopped out to get it. It was pretty full of gas, so I was glad that I had honked my horn–they most likely were going to need the gas in the can for the rest of their work that day. Two men slowly got out of the truck and then realized why I had honked as I made my way up the hill with their gas can. They walked faster, going to meet me in the road. I apologized for honking so much and handed them the can. The man taking the can thanked me.

I like to think that Noah looked down from Heaven and knew I needed some help with my act of kindness this week and just gave that gas can a little nudge off the back of that trailer. I’m probably wrong about that, but it’s how I like to think about it. And when the men got their gas can back, he smiled up there somewhere. Particularly, since the gentlemen in the truck didn’t appear to be able to speak a lot of English. Acts of kindness seldom need mutual language comprehension. They just need to be done.

That means that our MIP Acts of Kindness stand at 60 today. How did you honor Noah this week? Please submit a comment below letting me know that you participated!

This week we honor Caroline Previdi. Like Noah, not much is reported about Caroline’s likes and dislikes, but here’s what CNN said about her:

Caroline Previdi, 6
“You were a sweet little girl and you will be missed.” That’s the message that Caroline’s aunt reportedly tweeted, saying goodbye to her niece, according to the online version of the Press-Telegram in Long Beach, California. “It hurts even more to see a familiar name on that list,” the report said Paige Tremblay also tweeted. A Facebook page called “RIP Caroline Previdi — Sandy Hook Massacre Victim” contains dozens of messages. One reads: “Rest in Peace, sweetheart. I know for sure that God is with you and all the other sweet little angels. I feel so very sorry for all these families who lost their precious kids, my heart goes out to all of you.”‘

 

Tomorrow’s Post: The last College Freshman Orientation…

You might also like: 26 Tuesdays: Noah Pozner, 26 Tuesdays: Jack Pinto, 26 Tuesdays: Emilie Parker, 26 Tuesdays: Anne Marie Murphy, 26 Tuesdays: Grace McDonnell

04
Jun

26 Tuesdays: Noah Pozner

heart leaves

Jack Pinto was our 26 Tuesdays honoree last week and Jack was into all kinds of sports. Oddly enough, this last week at our house was a time to clean out our garages. Yes, plural. But, don’t get the misconception that we have 4 Audis at our house. We own 2 cars: my 3 year old car, the company car and a rust bucket that our teen drives. The last bay is occupied by a 20 year old Wave Runner and a 10 year old riding lawn mower. And thus, we need some actual space in those garages to house all of that. Since the last teen is about to enter college, we felt safe in eradicating our garage of a lot of old sports equipment from the active child-rearing years.

A good friend of ours gathers people’s junk and sells it semi-monthly. And trust me this old sports equipment is junk! So, he came to our rescue and hauled it all away for us and actually made a little money off of it. I’m not sure who actually did the act of kindness here–him or us! Perhaps it was mutually kind? As a result our MIP Acts of Kindness count stands at 57. Or maybe 58, if we count him hauling our stuff away for free??? Let’s leave it at 57.

So, what did you do in honor of Jack? I hope, one day, we can let the Connecticut folks know that we did a great deal of nice things to honor the folks lost by one terrible act.

Today’s honoree is Noah Pozner. Here is what CNN had to say about Noah:

“He had a huge heart and he was so much fun, a little bit rambunctious, lots of spirit,” Noah’s aunt told CNN. “He was really the light of the room.” Victoria Haller said her nephew loved playing with his cousins and siblings, especially his twin sister. “He was a gorgeous, gorgeous boy and he could really get what he wanted just by batting those long eyelashes and looking at you with those big blue eyes. You really couldn’t say no to him,” she said. His siblings don’t know yet the exact way in which Noah passed away, Haller said. “How do you tell them that’s how their brother died?” she asked. “It’s the unthinkable really.”

Tomorrow’s Post: A MaryAnn in a Martha World…

You might also like: 26 Tuesdays: Jack Pinto, 26 Tuesdays: Emilie Parker, 26 Tuesdays: Anne Marie Murphy, 26 Tuesdays: Grace McDonnell, 26 Tuesdays: James Mattioli

 

 

28
May

26 Tuesday: Jack Pinto

 falcons

Last week’s 26 Tuesdays honoree was Emilie Parker. Emilie probably would have participated in 26 Acts of Kindness herself, had she not been one of the victims of this national tragedy. So, this week I concentrated on sending cards to various people who either deserved a little recognition for their great accomplishments or were going through something unusual in their lives that deserved some care and concern from me and my family.

The PH informed me, last week, that he has been doing an act of kindness each week and just has forgotten to let me know this. So, that dramatically raises our MIP Acts of Kindness count to 55! Woo-hoo! I would love to see this count get up to over 100 by the time we reach the last honoree.

This week we honor Jack Pinto. You may have already heard a little about Jack. Here is what CNN had to say about Jack to jog your memory:

Jack Pinto, 6

Jack was a first-grader, and his interests ran the gamut — baseball, basketball, wrestling, snow skiing. But his first love was football, and his idol was New York Giants star receiver Victor Cruz. Cruz paid tribute to the team’s young fan by scribbling “Jack Pinto. My Hero” on one of his cleats and “R.I.P. Jack Pinto” on the other during the team’s game with the Atlanta Falcons over the weekend. On his glove, Cruz wrote, “Jack Pinto. This one is 4 U!” Jack recently participated in his first wrestling match and won a medal, according to the president of the New Milford Wrestling Association. “In life and in death, Jack will forever be remembered for the immeasurable joy he brought to all who had the pleasure of knowing him, a joy whose wide reach belied his six short years,” Jack’s family wrote in an obituary for the little boy.

What did you do to honor Emilie? If you are a little behind in reporting your acts of kindness like the PH, that’s okay. Just submit the total below and I’d be happy to add yours to the total!

Tomorrow’s Post: You 3.0: Questions & Tips, Part II…

You might also like: 26 Tuesday: Emilie Parker, 26 Tuesday: Anne Marie Murphy, 26 Tuesday: Grace McDonnell, 26 Tuesday: James Mattioli, 26 Tuesday: Ana Marquez-Greene

21
May

26 Tuesday: Emilie Parker

skaters

Last Tuesday we honored Anne-Marie Murphy, one of the teachers at Sandy Hook, who unselfishly covered some of the children with her body to attempt to save their lives. How do you honor a hero? I certainly don’t consider myself a hero, so this was a tricky one for me. But, fortunately, a child and a teen came to my rescue. Ms. Murphy was described as artistic and hard-working and I can think of two young ladies in our church (among many others there) who are extremely artistic, talented and hard-working. One began working hard before she even entered school full-time, singing her way into my heart with her ginger locks and pretty blue eyes. She is now about to graduate high school and also plays a mean piano. While doing 9000 things at once well, she is also the piano and voice teacher for 6 young, aspiring young ladies who pretty much idolize her (They’ve picked an awesome role model!).

One of her young students is just audacious and equally as talented as her mentor when she was the same age. In fact her piano teacher would say she’s even more talented than she was at that age, which is really saying something. This past Sunday the PH and I decided to go and listen to this young lady’s first piano recital and hear her young teacher present her students in concert. Both were awe-inspiring, as well as her other 5 students. We hugged that audacious little lady afterwards and she beamed as we told her how much we loved her performance.

While it may have been a very small act of kindness, I think the point is that all of our youngest citizens need to be praised for all of their positive efforts, even if they are at the beginning stages of the learning curve. And I think Anne-Marie Murphy would have liked that we supported some young artists in this small way.

This puts our MIP Acts of Kindness at 35 to date.

Today we honor Miss Emilie Parker. Here is what CNN said about Emilie:

Emilie “was the type of person who could light up a room,” her father told reporters Saturday. His oldest daughter was “bright, creative and very loving,” and “always willing to try new things other than food,” Robbie Parker said. “Emilie Alice Parker was the sweetest little girl I’ve ever known,” her aunt, Jill Cottle Garrett, said. The family is devastated that “someone so beautiful and perfect is no longer going to be in our lives and for no reason,” Garrett said. “My daughter, Emilie, would be one of the first ones to be standing up and giving her love and support to all of those victims, because that is the type of person she is,” her father said. Emilie’s “laughter was infectious,” he said. “This world is a better place because she has been in it.” Emilie was a mentor to her two younger sisters — ages 3 and 4 — and “they looked to her when they needed comfort,” her father said.

What did you do to honor Ms. Murphy? Please let me know if you participated by submitting a comment below. Thanks!

Tomorrow’s Post: You 3.0: MIP Exercise Plan

You might also like: 26 Tuesday: Anne-Marie Murphy, 26 Tuesday: Grace McDonnell, 26 Tuesday: James Mattioli, 26 Tuesday: Ana Marquez-Greene

14
May

26 Tuesdays: Anne Marie Murphy

smiling teacher

Last week’s honoree was Grace McDonnell. Grace loved cupcakes and thus, today I delivered some surprise cupcakes to some friends of mine that I haven’t seen in a long time. This makes our Acts of Kindness MIP count 34.

This week we honor one of Sandy Hook’s teachers. Here’s what CNN said about her:

Anne Marie Murphy, 52
A hero. That’s how a first responder reportedly described Murphy to her father. He told Newsday that authorities told him her body was found in a classroom, covering young children killed in the shooting in an apparent attempt to shield them. “She died doing what she loved. She was serving children and serving God,” Murphy’s mother, Alice McGowan, told the newspaper. A married mother of four, Murphy was artistic and hardworking, her parents said. “She was a happy soul,” her mother told Newsday. “She was a very good daughter, a good mother, a good wife.
What did you do for your Act of Kindness this past week?

 

Tomorrow’s Post: You 3.0: Mindset, Part III

You might also like: 26 Tuesdays: Grace McDonnell, 26 Tuesdays: James Mattioli, 26 Tuesdays: Nancy Lanza, 26 Tuesdays: Daniel Barden, 26 Tuesdays: Rachel D’Avino

30
Apr

26 Tuesdays: James Mattioli

lawn

Note: It is sad that, as we celebrate the lives of those lost at Sandy Hook Elementary, there are many more lives lost because of the tragedies in Boston and West. As we do acts of kindness for these victims, let us also do good in memory of those lost through these more recent events. And most of all, let us reach out to those who may be feeling left out or victimized by our society so that future tragedies like these stop happening. We must encourage better thinking!

Last week’s 26 Tuesdays honoree was Ana Marquez-Greene. Ana had a great voice and her brother played piano and her dad was a jazz musician. Music is a big part of our family life as well. So, this week I decided to make a contribution to one of my favorite schools and their jazz education program.

So, that puts our count at 30 so far. What did you do for your act of kindness this week? I hope to take our tally and submit it to the 26 acts FB page when we have featured all 26 victims here, so be sure to let me know that you participated.

Today’s honoree is James Mattioli. Here is what CNN had to say about James:

James Mattioli, 6
As he was quick to remind everyone, James was 6 and 3/4. “He loved to wear shorts and T-shirts in any weather and grab the gel to spike his hair,” his family said in a loving obituary. “He would often sing at the top of his lungs, and once asked, ‘How old do I have to be to sing on a stage?'” Indoors, he spent his time playing games on the iPad — especially the lawn mowing one. Outdoors, he loved to dive off the diving board, “swim like a fish” in his grandfather’s pool and ride his bike — without training wheels, mind you. “I need to go outside, Mom. I need fresh air,” he would often say. He was born 4 weeks early — because he was hungry, his family joked. James had a voracious appetite. His favorites? His dad’s egg omelets with bacon, and his mom’s French toast. He looked up to his older sister, wanting to do everything she could. “They were the best of friends, going to school together, playing games together, and making endless drawings and crafts together.” The boy, whose his family fondly called “J,” will be incredibly missed, they said.Tomorrow’s Post: Absolutely…

23
Apr

26 Tuesdays: Ana Marquez-Greene

piano

Last week’s 26 Tuesdays honoree was Jesse Lewis who loved math and horses. My niece also loves math. So much so that she is majoring in math in college. She also has a tremendous heart and has already ventured to Russia to help at the plethora of orphanages in that country. This year she is venturing to the Middle East in the  hopes of making connections between her culture and the Muslim student culture there. Honestly, it scares me some. Things are rather volatile in the Middle East on a good day! But, since she’s my niece and since she’s trying to bring some “love” to a culture that often doesn’t love us, I have to be a supportive aunt. Yes, a check went towards her travel expenses to make this trip possible in memory of Jesse.

That puts our count at 27 acts of kindness to date. What did you do to honor Jesse?

This week we honor Ana Marquez-Greene. Here is what CNN had to say about her:

Ana Marquez-Greene, 6
“One, two, three, ready and go,” Ana counts down in a homemade video provided to CNN affiliate WTIC.The girl in pigtails stands in front of a piano as her brother plays. Her voice is clear, bigger than her size. Ana smiles and waves.Her father, Jimmy Greene, is a jazz musician. His representative released a statement on Ana’s death, describing the little girl as “beautiful and vibrant.” 
Let me know if you participated this week. You can submit a comment below or send me an email. Thanks!
16
Apr

26 Tuesdays: Jesse Lewis

horses

Last week’s honoree was Nancy Lanza, mother of the Sandy Hook shooter, Adam Lanza. Sadly, Nancy was the first victim in the shooting. I wonder if that was because she was desperately trying to stop her son from committing this terrible act or if Adam realized that she would intervene if he left the house with guns, etc. Either way I’m sure that Nancy felt great responsibility for what her son was about to do and thus, felt guilty.

This is every parent’s worst nightmare–that the choices we make or don’t make will produce a child who is capable of great harm to the community. The hardest job in the world is to parent and it is often a very thankless job. So, this week I decided to do something a little special for a young mom in my community who is doing her best to get it right. Since she is in the “active phase” of parenting and doing it on pretty much on her own, it’s easy to be stressed. And on those days in my own life it was nice to know some “veteran moms” understood completely what I was enduring. Their own acts of kindness often helped me hang in there. So, I hope my small act of kindness helps her, too. Just paying it forward!

How about you? What did you do to honor Nancy? Please let me know via the submission box below or via the Contact page that you participated. Right now we stand at 26 acts of kindness to date!

Today’s honoree is Jesse Lewis. Jesse was into horses, something that will probably sound familiar to the folks in my community, since I live in rodeo country. Here’s what CNN had to say about Jesse:

Jesse Lewis, 6
Jesse loved math, riding horses and playing at his mom’s farm, his father told the New York Post. “He was just a happy boy,” said Neil Heslin. “Everybody knew Jesse.” He told the newspaper his son was to make gingerbread houses at school Friday. Heslin was planning to help. Instead, the last time he saw his son was when he dropped him off at school at 9 a.m. “He was going to go places in life,” Heslin told the Post.

Tomorrow’s Post: A Look Back…

09
Apr

26 Tuesdays: Nancy Lanza

Mom locket

Last week’s 26 Tuesdays honoree was Chase Kowalski. Chase wanted 2 front teeth for Christmas. Since I’m not a dentist or orthodontist, I don’t think I can do something to help someone get their two front teeth. Thankfully, Chase was already a triathlete at the tender age of 7. While I have completed a 3 day walk, I am the first to confess that I’m running-challenged for a variety of reasons. And being running-challenged, alone, would probably keep me from completing a triathlon.

I am fortunate to be surrounded by a plethora of people who have made running great distances a part of their lives. They inspire me since they are often running to support great causes, such as cancer research or heart disease prevention or feeding starving people in other countries.

There is so much more to running these events than just training and paying the entrance fee. Often, there is a fundraising minimum and inevitably, one is buying new running gear of some sort to replace the worn out stuff from training so hard. Then, there is the blister aid stuff, hydration beverages (while training) and nutrition measures needed. In some cases my friends and family are also traveling great distances to participate, incurring hotel, air, car and additional meal expenses.

Thus, I decided my act of kindness would be to offset some of these “unseen” expenses for my “other-centered” friends. After all, the good book encourages us to “finish the race” before us.”

Today’s honoree is Nancy Lanza. If her last name sounds familiar, there’s a reason. She was Adam Lanza’s mother and the very first victim of the Sandy Hook tragedy. I confess that I have mixed emotions about Ms. Lanza. On the one hand news reports describe her as a good mother who tried to get help for her son, Adam. On the other hand she encouraged her son to be around guns. While I do support the 2nd amendment, the counselor in me does feel that those who have really serious mental challenges should probably not be around guns.  But, I also don’t think that Ms. Lanza deserved being killed by her son for this possible lapse in judgment. All of us, as parents, fail at some aspect of parenting and I hope I never have to pay for my parenting lapses as Ms. Lanza did. My prayers are that we all work harder at being diligent parents and getting our children help when needed. Here is what CNN wrote about Ms. Lanza:

Nancy Lanza, 52

Before the rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Adam Lanza, 20, killed his mother — Nancy — in her home in Newtown’s Sandy Hook community, authorities said. Adam was living with his mother, two law enforcement sources said. The other son, Ryan, was living in New Jersey. Nancy Lanza was a personable neighbor who lived on a block of spacious houses on a crest overlooking gentle hills, acquaintances said. She and her family moved to the Sandy Hook neighborhood about 1998, raising two sons with husband Peter until the couple separated a few years ago. “It was just a nice, normal family,” neighbor Rhonda Cullen said Saturday, recalling a recurring neighborhood ladies night over the Bunco dice game. At odds with this image of New England gentility was how the Lanza household possessed a cache of weapons — including an assault-style rifle and two handguns — in a community prized for its stillness. Lanza was a stay-at-home mom.

So, the maryanninprogress acts of kindness stands at 24. What did you do for your act of kindness this week?

Tomorrow’s Post: The lessons I learned from my first writer’s conference may not be the ones the planners hoped I’d learn…

02
Apr

26 Tuesdays: Chase Kowalski

running

Last week’s 26 Tuesdays honoree was Catherine Hubbard. Catherine loved animals so much that a local Connecticut animal center is now building an animal sanctuary in her memory, thanks to the donations of her family and friends. As I pondered how I could honor Catherine with an act of kindness, my mind turned to the book I’ve just completed reading, The Hole in our Gospel, which describes how people all over the world are starving.

One of the encouraging parts of the world’s hunger issue is that when those affected are able to raise an animal, they often can use that animal to feed their own family and sell some of the by-products to others in their village. Since the PH works in the dairy industry, we decided to donate 2 shares to World Vision International to help donate a cow to a family in need. A dairy cow can supply calves that can be raised and sold to other families in need and can provide milk for the family who owns it. Sometimes there is enough excess milk for other families and it, too, is sold to other villagers. In some cases this may be the only nutrition these children will have for a while. Perhaps more importantly, it gives that family hope. And hope is often the first “casualty” in these families. I think Catherine would like the thought of an animal bringing hope and joy to a family.

That brings the MIP Acts of Kindness count to 22. What did you do for Catherine? Please submit a comment below or send an email to me via the Contact page. It’s fine to just say that you participated, if you prefer that.

Today’s honoree is Chase Kowalski:

Chase Kowalski, 7

What Chase really wanted for Christmas was two front teeth. “I saw him two days ago, and I asked him if he wanted to see Santa, and he told me that he wanted his teeth back, and it was really sweet,” Chase’s neighbor Keeley Baumann, 13, told News Times. At 6, Chase completed his first triathlon, but that was just one of his pursuits. He loved baseball. He was in the Cub Scouts. He looked forward to the kids’ workshop at the local Home Depot. “We are thankful to the Lord for giving us seven years with our beautiful loving son. It is with heavy hearts that we return him,” the family said in an obituary.

So, what about Chase inspires you to do an act of kindness for someone? I am anxious to hear your thoughts.

Tomorrow’s Post: And the prize goes to…