Posts Tagged ‘Victoria Soto’

03
Sep

26 Tuesdays: Allison N. Wyatt…

art

Last week’s 26 Tuesday’s honoree was Benjamin Wheeler. On Friday I was literally using “the facilities” at a local restaurant and pondering what to do in honor of Benjamin. As I completed “my business,” I realized I was using the last of that particular roll of toilet paper. Out of sheer habit I discarded the empty tube, unwrapped a roll nearby and replaced it. It was only then that I realized I had just completed an act of kindness–not only for the next “inhabitant” of the restroom, but also for the staff of the restaurant, who happened to be quite busy with their noontime crowd.

I hope, as we honor our very last victim of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting, that all of us, myself included, begin to do acts of kindness in just that way–as a matter of habit. The reality is that it takes very little money to fix the world’s problems. Often, all it takes is lots of people being kind in small and big ways each day. Imagine what the world would be like if all of us simply made acts of kindness a habit every day!

This now brings our MIP total of acts of kindness to: 97! I hope you will let me know about your act of kindness this week so we can get to the magical total of 100 by our last Tuesday next week. To do so, please submit a comment below. Thanks!

Our last honoree is Allison N. Wyatt. Here is what CNN had to say about Allison:

Allison N. Wyatt, 6
Once, Allison offered her snacks to a complete stranger on plane. That’s just the type of person she was. Allison was a “sweet, creative, funny, intelligent little girl who had an amazing life ahead of her,” her parents said. They described their daughter as kind-hearted. She loved to draw and wanted to be an artist. “She loved to laugh and was developing her own wonderful sense of humor that ranged from just being a silly 6-year-old to coming up with observations that more than once had us crying with laughter,” her parents said. “Allison made the world a better place for six, far too short years, and we now have to figure out how to move on without her … We love and miss her so much.”

It seems fitting that Allison was already doing her acts of kindness and that she is our last honoree! Let’s finish this MIP series with a strong finish in her honor!

Tomorrow’s Post: Heaven isn’t what we think…

You might also like: 26 Tuesdays: Benjamin Wheeler; 26 Tuesdays: Victoria Soto; 26 Tuesdays: Mary Sherlach; and 26 Tuesdays: Lauren Rousseau

27
Aug

26 Tuesdays: Benjamin Wheeler

Penny Lane

Last week we honored teacher Victoria Soto, the brave woman who tried to shield her students from the gunman. This week I have to give partial credit for my act of kindness to my youngest. He cleaned out his dresser and closet in preparation for beginning college and left a bag of clothing for me to donate to our local version of “Goodwill.” All I had to do was take the bag there on his behalf when I was out running the errands–so easy!

On Sunday our minister encouraged us to do “Organized Acts of Kindness” (OAK). This is particularly interesting because our church’s name is “Oakdale.” 🙂 I hope our church will, one day, be known for our acts of kindness! That’s what a church should be all about anyway.

So this brings our MIP “organized” acts of kindness total to 95! What OAKs did you do this week? Let us know in a comment below.

This week we honor Benjamin Wheeler. Here is what CNN said about Benjamin:

Benjamin Wheeler, 6

Ben loved The Beatles, lighthouses and the No. 7 train to Sunnyside, Queens, his family said in a statement. He and his older brother Nate “filled the house with the noise of four children.” “Ben Wheeler was an irrepressibly bright and spirited boy whose love of fun and excitement at the wonders of life and the world could rarely be contained. His rush to experience life was headlong, creative and immediate,” his family said. Ben loved soccer and swimming. Recently, he performed at a piano recital — a major feat for a little boy who rarely sat still. Friday morning before school, he told him mom: “I still want to be an architect, but I also want to be a paleontologist, because that’s what Nate is going to be and I want to do everything Nate does.” The family moved to Newtown in 2007. Francine Wheeler, Ben’s mother, is a music teacher and performer. Francine Wheeler’s band posted the following message on its Facebook page: “Francine Wheeler, a founding member of The Dream Jam Band, has lost her precious 6-year old son, Ben, to the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut. Our prayers and love go out to Francine, David and Ben’s big brother, Nate.”

Thursday’s Post: 100 Things on my New To-Do List…

You might also like: 26 Tuesdays: Victoria Soto; 26 Tuesdays: Mary Sherlach; 26 Tuesdays: Lauren Rousseau; and 26 Tuesdays: Avielle Richman

20
Aug

26 Tuesdays: Victoria Soto

Back to School

Last week 26 Tuesdays honored Mary Sherlach, the counselor at Sandy Hook who, along with her principal, rushed into the corridor from their offices after hearing gunshots. U.S. school counselors do a nearly impossible job–their days are often filled with doing things they never really wanted to do, such as testing, scheduling, and other administrative work. Often, the counseling work they long to do has to be crammed into short segments of time (not ideal for helping people) or before or after school. It means long hours throughout the entire year–counselor usually do not get their summers off, like their teaching counterparts.

And yet, school counselors are often the very people who make life tolerable for a great number of kids. Sadly, more and more of our children are forced to live in families that are struggling for one reason or another. The reality is that life is often not very fair for our children. So, what sort of act of kindness should I do to honor Mary Sherlach?

My inspiration for this week’s act of kindness came from guess who. A school counselor. She happens to be a good friend of mine and when life didn’t seem very fair for me last week, I “vented” in her direction. She responded with her typical caring, her crazy sense of humor and…a card. She, herself, lives a life that is often not very fair to her. And yet, she still devotes herself to helping others with whatever problems they present to her. So I purchased a number of cards this week to send to others, those who have suffered some big hurts this week and could use a kind word from a friend. Such a simple thing to do, but a fast and dying act of kindness, due to the internet.

This puts our MIP acts of kindness count at 93! We closing in on the 100 mark! What did you do as your act of kindness this week?

Today’s honoree is the last teacher we will honor and Victoria Soto has been hailed as a hero for taking fast action to try and protect her students before she was unmercifully gunned down. Here is more about her via CNN:

Victoria Soto, 27
Soto, a first-grade teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary, moved her students away from the classroom door when she heard gunfire. “That’s when the gunman burst in, did not say a word, no facial expressions, and proceeded to shoot their teacher,” said Robert Licata, whose 6-year-old son, Aiden, escaped by running past the shooter. Soto’s mother said her daughter was selfless. “She would not hesitate to think to save anyone else before herself, and especially children. She loved them more than life, and she would definitely put herself in front of them any day,” Donna Soto told CNN’s Piers Morgan. Soto had wanted to be a teacher since she was 3 and talked about her students with “such fondness and caring,” her mother said. Soto’s cousin, James Wiltsie, said Soto “instinctively went into action, when a monster came into her classroom, and tried to protect the kids that she loved so much,” he said. “We just want the public to know that Vicki was a hero.”

Thursday’s Post: The return of Slow Reader Thursday!

You might also like: 26 Tuesdays: Mary Sherlach; 26 Tuesdays: Lauren Rousseau; 26 Tuesdays: Avielle Richman; and 26 Tuesdays: Jessica Rekos