Pay It Forward!
Dr. James C. Hoyal. A man I'd met only twice up until two days ago. Yet, I've never forgotten his face or his name.
Let me go back 11 years. I had just started Creating Keepsakes magazine (the first issue hadn't been published yet), and my husband had just been laid off from his job. As you can imagine, money was tight—I wasn't getting a salary yet, and we depended on Steve's income. On top of it all, Steve had a terrible toothache and needed immediate attention.
Don't ask me why, but we randomly chose Dr. James Hoyal, a local dentist, to take a look at Steve. As we were both in the room, Dr. Hoyal sweetly asked how things were going and what we did for a living. He learned that I was starting my own venture and Steve had just been laid off. We then chitchatted about other things.
I can't remember what procedure Steve had done—I think the doctor fixed a crown that had gone bad. The bill was several hundred dollars, and when we tried to pay at the front desk, the receptionist smiled and said, "There is no charge for today."
We were shocked and amazed. We thanked Dr. Hoyal profusely and talked about his generosity the entire way home. We also promised that we'd help someone else in need when we could afford it.
We moved from the area and started visiting a dentist who was closer, but we never forgot Dr. Hoyal's random act of kindness. We shared the example with our children and started our own RASK (Random ActS of Kindness) project. We created a huge poster with the word "RASK" on it, then every Monday night we chose a person to surprise with a random act of kindness. We wrote that person's name on the poster, and before long we'd filled the entire surface with names.
Two days ago I stood in line at a viewing of a close friend's husband (see my blog entry called "Never a Better Hero"). Directly in front of me was a gentleman who looked familiar. I asked his name and he said, "James C. Hoyal." I got a huge smile on my face and recounted the time he'd helped a down-and-out couple over 11 years ago. He didn't remember the occasion—but then I didn't think he would. He's probably done random acts of kindness his entire life and is too humble to remember them.
A favorite hymn of mine goes "Did I do any good in the world today? Did I help anyone in need? Did I cheer up the sad, and make someone feel glad? If not I have failed indeed." Meeting Dr. Hoyal again made me want to go out and try a little harder to lighten the load for another person. What a lucky day it was to meet up with him again and to tell him face to face that I've never forgotten his kindness.
Have a great April and enjoy the warmer weather!
Lisa B.
Let me go back 11 years. I had just started Creating Keepsakes magazine (the first issue hadn't been published yet), and my husband had just been laid off from his job. As you can imagine, money was tight—I wasn't getting a salary yet, and we depended on Steve's income. On top of it all, Steve had a terrible toothache and needed immediate attention.
Don't ask me why, but we randomly chose Dr. James Hoyal, a local dentist, to take a look at Steve. As we were both in the room, Dr. Hoyal sweetly asked how things were going and what we did for a living. He learned that I was starting my own venture and Steve had just been laid off. We then chitchatted about other things.
I can't remember what procedure Steve had done—I think the doctor fixed a crown that had gone bad. The bill was several hundred dollars, and when we tried to pay at the front desk, the receptionist smiled and said, "There is no charge for today."
We were shocked and amazed. We thanked Dr. Hoyal profusely and talked about his generosity the entire way home. We also promised that we'd help someone else in need when we could afford it.
We moved from the area and started visiting a dentist who was closer, but we never forgot Dr. Hoyal's random act of kindness. We shared the example with our children and started our own RASK (Random ActS of Kindness) project. We created a huge poster with the word "RASK" on it, then every Monday night we chose a person to surprise with a random act of kindness. We wrote that person's name on the poster, and before long we'd filled the entire surface with names.
Two days ago I stood in line at a viewing of a close friend's husband (see my blog entry called "Never a Better Hero"). Directly in front of me was a gentleman who looked familiar. I asked his name and he said, "James C. Hoyal." I got a huge smile on my face and recounted the time he'd helped a down-and-out couple over 11 years ago. He didn't remember the occasion—but then I didn't think he would. He's probably done random acts of kindness his entire life and is too humble to remember them.
A favorite hymn of mine goes "Did I do any good in the world today? Did I help anyone in need? Did I cheer up the sad, and make someone feel glad? If not I have failed indeed." Meeting Dr. Hoyal again made me want to go out and try a little harder to lighten the load for another person. What a lucky day it was to meet up with him again and to tell him face to face that I've never forgotten his kindness.
Have a great April and enjoy the warmer weather!
Lisa B.
3 Comments:
I am so touched by your constant act of kindness. I don't know if you remember but I called and asked if you could call my wife Catrina as a Christmas gift and you did whiich was so appreciated in our house. What I didn't tell you was that I am a disabled jockey who was injured while riding. My wife now takes care of me and our four children at home. We get by right now on workermans compensation as we have been for the last five years. It is a realy slow and painful process. My wife is trying to start up a home scrapbooking business for extra income. Any advice or words of encouragement from you would go a long way. Thanks for the inspiring stories I really enjoy reading them.
retiredjoc@aol.com
ctrnbrown@aol.com
What a sweet story. I in my own way although not monetary do my own little random acts of kindness for others whenever I can. I barely survive on my income but I in return did get a sweet letter and $60 in cash in my mailbox at work one day thanking me for all that I do for others and it just basically said thank you and said for me to take my kids out and do something fun because we deserve it. Well I still haven't spent it just waiting for something special to spend it on. But I did keep the letter as a little inspiration.Thanks for sharing your sweet stories with us.
I did much the same thing with my children when they were younger. We have a large calender in the kitchen and each day we put the date number on the calendar. We also keep track of important days. It helps the younger ones visually see how long until something (birthdays, holidays, their night to stay up late,etc). When I would put these important things on the calendar, I would then randomly put the letters RAK (Random Act of Kindness) in some of the date boxes. When it got to that day, we each had to do something for someone else without letting them know- it could be family, friend, stranger it didn't matter, so long as we thought of someone else and helped them out.
Thanks for letting me remember this.
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