What are the kindest things that have ever been done for you? Once, years ago, I made a list, on a late night flight to my hometown.

    My sister had called to tell me that our mother was dying and that if I wanted to say goodbye, I needed to get there fast. So I made calls to cancel work and hurried to catch the last flight out.

    After takeoff, the lights went down and I felt empty and alone.

    What do you do when you get lonely and there's no one to hold you? How do you fill a hungry heart?

    I took out a notebook and listed all the kindnesses that I'd ever been given.

    Five hours later, when we landed, I closed the notebook and rushed to the hospital to say goodbye to my mother.

    Making that list of kindnesses that night helped me in the days ahead to do the things I needed to do and be the daughter I wanted to be.

    Kindness heals and fills an empty heart. It's a gift, once and for always.

    Last night it was cold and rainy, so I wrapped myself up in a blanket. Warm then, I recalled being 7 years old in Mrs Harrison's second grade class.

That morning, I'd worn my new shoes to school. I loved the shoes and all the way to school on the bus couldn't stop looking at them. But when I stepped off the bus, my right foot— and my new right shoe – went deep into a puddle of water.

    Mrs Harrison saw the water I was dripping into class. She said, "Give me those shoes and warm your feet by the fire."

    "Thank you, ma'am," I said.

    "No trouble! We all hit a puddle now and then!"

    I don't know if she remembered it. But I do. It warmed my feet for a few hours. But it has warmed my heart for a lifetime.

    Often, acts of kindness seem to be the simplest. But they become beautiful beyond all singing of it if they are remembered with thankfulness and passed on from one needy soul to another.