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Show BL K- Kindest father on Earth Sowers' best childhood friend last When Marilyn thing toe his efforts, but he declined. I then tried to give him gas money; again he refused. He simply wanted me to pass on the generosity if I got the her eyeglass, the friends mother did nor have the money to replace them. "I mentioned this in passing to my father who went to see the optometrist and explained the situation to him," says Sowets of Good-lan- d, Kan. (pop. 448). The optometrist made anocher pair ofglasses identical t the Ior ones. When the glasses arrived, my father took them to the high school and told the iy to call my friend to the office and tell her that her glasKS had been found," Sowers recalls. "My friend never knew the ttue story and neither did L until yeats later the optometrist told me how I had been blessed with the kindest father on Earth Bob Nelson of Colby, Kan." (pop. 5,450). opportunity," Fluck says. Ferei does not realize the act of kindness he provided that day, Fludc says. Not only did he assist my son with a sola, he showed my son that there are mily compassionate people in the world, and we must strive to pass it on to odien." A giving spirit a newly single friend of Beth R. Years ago, sec-reta- Kite-le- y of Longmont, Cola, commented she didnt have money to buy her children a Christmas tree. 1 knew she wouldn't take a handout from me, so I put a $10 bill in a Christmas card and sent it to her anonymously," Kiceley says. Unwittingly, Kiteley's generosity multiplied itself. She showed me what real generosity is. Next time I saw her, she was so excited. Someone sent us a gift, she said. Ten dollars! So I bought a small tree for the kids and gave the other $3 to my friend so she could get one, coo.'" Lenzinis daughter was 6, the Maty announced that she would neat her mother youngster meal to a at a newly opened frst food restaurant. "We walked the few blocks together as she proudly clutched her bulging little wallet," Lenzini says. "What I feund astonished me beyond woods. My . children had been bathed and fed and were asleep in Christmas gifts had been wrapped and plwvd beneath the tree. The children stoddts had been filled. My house was immarulare, and a faige pot of homemade soup was simmering on the stove," says Putves, now of After placing their order for hamburgers, fries, and a drink, the bill totaled $3.85. The little girl carefully counted out all her money which amounted to less than $1 in change. "I should have checked on her finances before, but I hadnt, and I did not have one cent with me, says Lenzini of Palmyra, Ma (pop 3,467). , To my rescue came another diner who overheard the exchange and swept gallantly fotth with, Allow me. He saved a special mnthrridanghtrr outing with that kind gesture." then-beds- Landet; overseas tour of duty in Japan and Okinawa, and her husband had been sent to a mining school for three months. "I called Dorothy Malcolm, the only person 1 knew at the rime, and told her of my concern. She came right over; told me to take him to the base hospital, and not to worry about anything else," Purves says. drive to the hospital that Putves made the le morning and stayed at the hospital all day while her baby was rreatrA far hmnrhial pneumonia. Mother and son arrived home exhausted about 9 from a Wya (pop. 6J&67). Cut rate a -- A V Sheri Caltrider, an English teacher in Haitsville,S.C. (pop. 7,566) every year ads her high KtooIttudaKS to (mice three-ye-ar fr their 25-mi- i. daughter would arrive the near day. After a day of unpacking and cleaning, she took her daughter out to dinner at a small local family restaurant. "An elderly couple a few tables away kept waving to my daughter, making faces at her, and playing ptek-a-bThey were not dose enough for us to establish a dialogue, but when they got up to leave, they waved goodbye, Gehman says. When they finished their meal and Gehman asked for the bill, die waitress told her that die couple had paid it. I almost cried, Gehman says. "No one had ever done something as nice as this far me before. Thar it was our first night in die town that was to become our home made it 'even more meaningful. I truly fait welcomed to die neighborhood and knew that I was going to like this new place." - of friendship NJL, Lezley Gehman and her daughter were spending their first night in their new home in Sayre, Ps. (pop. 5,813). Her husband and another Dorothy and her husband, Kenneth, of Hampton, Nil,- (pop. 14,937) had their own young children and Christinas duties to attend to; but they reached out in a time of crisis, Putves says. "They gave me a gift that I have treasured for a lifetime a gift of the real meaning of Christmas, she says. "This was one magnificent act of kindness toward a vety lonely and frightened Air Force wife. Dec. 24, 1961, dawned snowy and cold and Golleen Putves awakened to find the youngest of her six dim, Jeffc 9 months, vety ill Her Air Force family recently had transferred to Pease Air Force base in Foctsmouth, Warm welcome oa rescue Restaurant When Beth Gift pling of their favorites. These are small acts, but even the smallest are remembered, and their ripples spread endlessly as from a pebble dropped in a pond. One involves Charles W. Luthci; 18, who usually cuts grass for about $20, a goodly sum for a teenager, but Luther cut his rate for one customer a friend of his mother's when he learned that her husband had been laid off from his job. "When I got through with the yard, I went in to tell her I was done, Luther wrote. "The neighbor handed me a $20 bill," but the boy refused payment, knowing the family needed every dollar at the moment. . r "vU journals about an act of kindness they performed die day before, This yeat; she I sentusasam- - I 1 ' zr |