It's like Jello

Again, it's been ages since I wrote a blog, and I am sure my followers have forgotten all about me. 

But when life takes you on a trip, regardless of your own desires, there is nothing to do but travel and pray that you arrive safely.

My life this year is a bit upended. I had wanted to be published again, or at least under contract, but it was not to be. And I realize now that the way it has turned out, partially my own fault, partially not, it was for the best. Sometimes, we don't have the reserves for writing, and we need to recharge. 

So, while I am recharging, we are downsizing our home. And in that process, I had a dress in the back of my closet. I hadn't worn it in decades. It was a bridesmaid dress, as I had been one at the last minute for a friend whose own bridesmaid backed out. I offered it on a local buy and sell for $10, but in the space of a short time, a woman was interested in it as her wedding dress. It was cotton candy pink.

Then, I remembered something my own daughter-in-law did years ago. She was marrying my son and still had a wedding dress from her previous marriage. It's actually harder than we all realize to sell wedding dresses. Brides want new ones, or ones that have meaning in their lives. So my daughter-in-law offered to give it away. 

Many brides to be came by to try it on, but like that glass slipper, they were a bit too big for it. Then, one day, while I was sitting at her home with her mother, chatting because my daughter-in-law had to pop out for a minute, the doorbell rang. Another bride to be. We directed her to a bathroom, and a minute later, she came out wearing the dress. 

It fit perfectly. But she burst into tears.

Aghast, both of us jumped up to embrace her. Her tears were tears of joy. She was dead broke, on her second marriage, and as a single mother, she had no money for a dress, let alone a wedding. To find a gorgeous wedding dress that fit her tiny frame was a Godsend, and she couldn't stop crying. 

I never forgot that incident. It touched me. The casual act of giving away a dress suddenly became a lifeline for a woman who wanted something nice to wear to her budget wedding. 

Today, I gave away my bridesmaid dress. It fit the bride to be like a glove. (reminding me of how small I used to be!) and I can thank my daughter-in-law for giving me such a good example to follow. Her act may have been casual, but it meant so much to someone else. The dress today meant so much to the woman I met. My own little casual act. So you never know what small thing you do will mean to others. 

There will be some of you nodding. And others knowing how important your small acts of kindness can be. You never know what is going on. You never know what will happen. 

Kindness is like Jello. And there is always room for Jello.