Kick Butt Kindness

OH BOY, OH BOY, OH BOY!  What a DELIGHTFUL surprise I got in the mail today!  Three good friends of mine, Barb Rogers, Kristen Powers, and Frida (yes, THE Frida Kahlo) came together to surprise me with a print of Frida made by Kristen Powers.

Now, have you ever looked at a piece of art and totally connected to it?  The watercolor that Kristen had made of Frida was one of those pieces for me.  I fell head over heels for it!  I asked if she was going to sell it or make prints, and she did!  And every time I would visit it at her Etsy shop, which is OFTEN, I would put it in my cart and then never actually purchase it.  I felt like I was being greedy for buying art for myself.  I have bills to pay.  The car needs service.  My husband has big medical issues, I should save my money in case I need it for that.  There was always something.  But that print has moxie!  It has a quiet confidence, and yet it has some "kick ass," it has some smirk, some knowing, some calm, some anticipation, some thoughtfulness and passion, and some strength for me.

I am almost always an upbeat person.  Honest.  And even if I am in the deep hole of a pity party, I can rise to the occasion and plaster a smile on my face.  People don't know when I feel down (okay, maybe a few know).  I have felt kinda down lately.  No particular reason, I couldn't put my finger on it, maybe it is hormones, maybe it is the weather, but I was feelin' kinda low down saggy and blue.  I have a FABULOUS life!  I have everything I could hope for!  I have a husband who loves me and would take a bullet for me, healthy and delightful kids, a beautiful home that is paid for in full, a dog that makes me laugh daily, food in my pantry, and art supplies!  Still, I was feelin' selfish and down.  When I received that print as a surprise in the mail today, it gave me a shot of something I needed right in the ass and in the heart and in my head.  Thanks to friends that acted on an impulse to do something nice for me.

On the way to the post office, I had a wish.  I wished I could find someone who would like the quilt books I have boxed up to get rid of in the back of my car.  I have been blessed with people who gave me some of them over the years.  I really didn't want to "give them away" to the used bookstore.  I wanted them to go to someone who would love them, like I did.

So, with a smile on my face and a song in my heart on my way home from the post office today with my Frida print next to me, I saw a neighbor I don't know well.  She always seemed kinda cool and distant.  Her husband and her dog had died in the last few years.  I knew this, it is a small town.  I never visited.  I would wave.  Today, I slowed down and rolled down my window as she was walking.  I said, "Are you a quilter?"  She said yes.   I had heard rumor she was, again, it is small town.  So I said,  "I have something for you, if you have a moment."  In the back of my car is a box of quilt books I have been going to get rid of, sell, whatever.  Couldn't bring myself to let them go for two years, finally tried at our garage sale this summer, and then finally boxed them up and put them in the back of my car for the used book store or Goodwill.

We stood in the alley behind the post office, looking like drug or stolen goods dealers rummaging through the back of my car.  She was hesitant at first, then with some encouragement, she started adding a few more books, talking, opening up a bit, and then a few more books went on her pile.  We like the same sorts of quilts, we discovered.  She is looking for a particular crazy quilt stitch, I may know it.  She seemed a little more happy as we parted ways.  I offered "home delivery" for her, as her pile had grown to a considerable weight, but she said she could carry it.  I have a feeling she carries a lot and I'm not talking about physical things.  She seemed a bit perkier despite her load of quilt books in her arms.

My momma always said you should NEVER brag about nice things you've done for someone, as it is the same thing as undoing what you've done if you brag.  It's in the Bible, too, just worded differently.  I'm not braggin'...I don't want to undo any goodness.  But I do want people to act on their good impulses.  You don't know what a change it may make.