My plan to celebrate my 30th birthday on December 27th was to go around the city doing 30 Good Deeds that day. As life so often likes to remind us, such well scheduled events can't always happen as planned! My mom was in the hospital on my birthday and it was obviously more important I spend the day with her. Mom knew about my birthday plans leading up to Christmas and was almost as excited as I was.
I knew I would still do this day because she would want me to. I changed it up a bit, and am dedicating my 30 "good deeds" to her! 1 deed for every year I had with her. Although not nearly enough, I'm grateful for each and every one of them. One of my favourite things about my mom was her ability to make everyone feel special. Whether you had just met her, or knew her your whole life, when she greeted you with her big smile and listened to your stories, you felt as though you were so special and important. My goal on this day was to use simple acts of kindness to try and make others feel a little more special, and hopefully bring a smile to their face:)
"Remember laughter is the best medicine out there for anything and everything! So laugh a lot and laugh out loud when you can!" Mom
Here they are:
1. Registered online to be an organ donor.
2. Wrote an online review for two places that I had recently experienced great service! Kerman Carwash in Grimsby and Ericway Tires in Beamsville.
3. Made my dad and Grandma breakfast!
4. Took the staff at West Lincoln Memorial Hospital ER coffee!
5. Left some magazines, colouring books and crayons in the waiting room at the hospital.
6. Brought my lovely cousin Brianna some flowers.
7. Dropped off some wool at a nursing home.
8. I had a gift card for $25 to East Side Mario's that I gave to a family while they were enjoying their lunch.
9. Mailed 5 special people in my life a handwritten note.
10. Made up a care package for visitors to Canada! Originally I was going to drop it off at the hostel down the street from me in Toronto, but since I relocated to Grimsby, we waited around at the Gateway to Niagara trying to find someone. Eventually we found a car in the parking lot that had US plates so I wrote a note and hung it on the car!
12. Bought my sister a well-deserved manicure!
13. Spent quality time with my niece and bought her a new book!
14. Put a quarter in all the vending machines at the mall.
15. Left a copy of my favourite feel-good book "The Book of Awesome" in the fold down change table of the family room at the mall. I left another one on a table at a coffee shop as well.
16. Dropped off some donations to Value Village.
17. Left coins taped to a washer at a laundromat.
18. Dropped off a pair of my old glasses (and mom's glasses) to a drop box for One Sight.
19. Bought some groceries for the food bank.
20. Handed out 2 gift cards each with $5 on them to people in Wal Mart.
21. Picked up some trash.
22. Delivered a suitcase to a friend after I had picked it up at a repair shop in Toronto.
23. Handed out a dozen roses to people in the parking lot (we felt creepy taking photos of strangers so you just get the shot of me).
24. Handed out balloons to kids in the mall.
25. Gave my cousin a ticket to see Taylor Swift in concert in June!
26. Bought the car behind me coffee (which actually turned out to include their breakfast as well! haha)
27. Put away some shopping carts that were sitting in a handicap spot.
28. Inspired by "Operation Beautiful" I left notes in various places with (hopefully) some encouraging words!
29. Made an appointment to donate blood (next Monday). I was hoping to do this on the same day, but couldn't find a clinic open on Sunday.
30. Designed and framed a quote from an email my mom sent me a few years ago and gave a copy to my dad, sister and grandmother as gifts.
It was a fantastic day and I just loved seeing the surprise and joy on everyones faces when they realized they were benefiting from an act of kindness!
A special thank you to everyone that helped me come up with ideas and accomplish all 30 in one day!!
Shannon
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