Kindness Brought Unimaginable Gifts

It was a stormy October day. Gusty winds were howling, and the trees were shaking vigorously.

Shilpi came out to the porch to see how the neighborhood was doing. People had already put up lots of Halloween decorations — spiders, skeletons, lanterns, scarecrows, pumpkins, and more. If these decorations were not secured properly, they could easily fly away in such strong winds, she thought.

And just as she had anticipated, a big skeleton wearing a red cape was lying in the middle of the road.

A car had just passed by it. Shilpi realized that the skeleton could distract drivers and might also get crushed by passing vehicles. So, she picked up the skeleton and brought to her porch. She knew it belonged to which house.

Ayan saw Shilpi rescuing the skeleton and said, “That is very kind of you, Mummy.”

Shilpi knew it belonged to an elderly couple who lived at the end of the cul-de-sac, under a carrotwood tree. They put up beautiful Halloween decorations every year. She has seen the skeleton near their myrtle tree.

After several hours, when the wind finally stopped howling, Ahana and Ayan accompanied Shilpi to return the decoration to that house. They are always eager to meet new people.

As they walked into the yard, an alarm buzzed. An elderly woman came outside. hey explained that they did not mean to trespass. They had simply come to return her Halloween decoration, the skeleton. It was lying on the street in front of their house.

The woman introduced herself as Nancy. She thanked them warmly. Then she said that she has harvested fresh persimmons from her backyard and asked whether the children would like to take some home.

The children loved persimmons, but they have not tasted this year. They showed interest. Even Shilpi loved the fruit and even happier over the human connections they were forging.

Nancy gave them six plump orange persimmons.

Ahana, who loved making art, asked Nancy, “Can I bring you a thank-you artwork?” Nancy smiled and said that she will be happy to receive.

She told them that the children reminded her of her grandchildren, whom she had not seen for seven months. They live in Florida. It would be lovely to see Ahana and Ayan again.

They returned home happily, with their persimmons. The persimmon tasted extra good, for they were not purchased, but were the fruits of kindness and gratitude.

A few days later, Ahana finished a beautiful artwork depicting herself and Ayan receiving persimmons from Nancy. She had also written the word “Kindnss ” in her own first-grade handwriting.

The children went back to Nancy’s house to give her the artwork.

Nancy was delighted and invited them to their living room. She showed it to her husband, Steve.

Steve had Parkinson’s disease and was sitting on the sofa watching television. Nancy said that Steve is in early stages of dementia. Some days are normal, and some days are rough.

The children petted their cat Cranberry, sitting on the living room rug. She was friendly to the children.

Steve was in better shape that day. He was a history teacher. He talked with Shilpi about different topics.

Shilpi told the meaning of her name being ‘sculptor’. They hail from India, known for its architecture. Konark, Ajanta, Ellora, Taj Mahal..

Steve said that it was his dream to visit India but could not. He showed few books on India in his bookshelf. He said that, at least he met some Indian folks. Both of them smiled. Shilpi nodded.

He said that his parents belonged to Albania, from where Mother Teresa belonged. She chose India as her workplace, for which she got Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.

She talked about her hobby of philately. Steve said that he has been doing it since he was a teenager. He has a large collection of stamps from worldwide and has many interesting stamps. He has spent quite a bit in cretaing that collection. He is not doing it any more though, due to health issues.

Nancy offered them dried jujubes from her backyard and slices of panettone cakes. The children felt like being in Grandma’s cozy house, being pampered. 

Meanwhile they noticed a photograph on the fireplace mantle. They asked, “Who is that?” By then Shilpi, with her intuition had already guessed who the person might be.

Nancy said that it was their son Robert. He had served in the Army and had died during a military operation. Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was mentioned below the photo. Operation Enduring Freedom continued from 2001 to 2014 in Afghanistan. He had died in 2011, at age 28. A victim of terrorist bombing in Kabul.

Shilpi was deeply moved. She had lost her father and knew the pain of losing a loved one. At least her father had died at 76. It’s normal age-related death. But Robert was young, with whole life ahead. No parents should have to go through such pain. War, the scourge never ends and never stops hurting people.

She was an artist and enjoyed acrylic painting. She thought to do something to ease the pain of the grieving parents. 

She hugged Nancy and asked her whether they would like her to make an acrylic portrait of their son. She said they would love that.

Shilpi started painting taking a reference from Google. She poured her emotions into it. A few days later, she completed the 20 * 16 inches painting She wrote below, “Always remembered, forever missed.” She brought it to Nancy. 

Nacy showed it to Steve. They were very happy to receive it. Steve had tears rolling down his wrinkled cheeks. They hung it in their living room. They wanted to pay Shilpi, but she said, she will not take a penny. It cost her nothing, for she had all the supplies. It was honor to paint the martyr.

They shared the artwork with their relatives and posted it on social media.

Soon, Shilpi began receiving emails and inquiries from people asking whether she could paint portraits of their dogs, children, and other loved ones. Shilpi had no reason to say no.

She was already an artist. She had the necessary art supplies, and she loved painting. She needed the earning too. She called art money, ‘the sacred money’.

That month alone, she earned $500 by selling her artwork.

She has seen Nancy a few more times and asked tehir welfare.

One day, Nancy messaged Shilpi to drop by her house. They have a gift for her. She is sure that Shilpi would love that.

By now, Shilpi has developed a warm bond with Nancy and Steve. She said that she will meet her that afternoon.

She made crispy chickpea flour pakoras and brewed cardamom-ginger tea. She packed them and, with the kids went to Nancy’s place. 

They sat in the living room. Nancy and Steve seemed to enjoy the snacks. Then Steve produced three volumes of stamp books. She gave it to Shilpi. “Now it’s all yours. My grandchildren have no interest in these, and if it does not end up in right hands, hay will be treated as trash. I am sure, you will value them.”

Shipi was overwhelmed. These are the kinds of gifts money can’t buy. also, the human connections make them precious. She clasped the books to her chest and almost sobbed.

They were about to leave, and Nancy said that they are looking forward to selling their house, downsize and move to Florida, to be closer to their daughter Sara, the only surviving child. As she will go through her things, she might have some more gifts for Shilpi, Ahana and Ayan. 

Shilpi was sad to learn the warm, giver couple is moving away but was also happy that their will be close to their grandchildren.

Shilpi had always believed that kindness was an important principle of life. But this experience strengthened that belief even further.

Who could have imagined that a Halloween skeleton lying in the middle of the road would begin such a beautiful chain of kindness?

One small act of kindness led to another. A rescued Halloween decoration to happiness to grieving parents. The painting made with empathy, opened the door to new artistic and earning opportunities for Shilpi. And she will cherish the stamp books. 

She had never picked up the skeleton expecting anything in return. Yet kindness had brought her gifts in ways she could never have anticipated.

She knew her children had witnessed a beautiful lesson about how to live life. Opportunities can arise from the most unexpected places. A small act of kindness can create a ripple effect that reaches far beyond the original gesture.

And sometimes, what begins as an effort to help someone else ends up enriching our own lives.

Note: Thank you for reading. The idea for the story came from different experience of the writer, which she pieced together.