Jack’s birthday was a big hit and getting his haircut was a memory we won’t forget, but for me (as is often the case) the best part of his birthday was going away for the day with just the three of us.

We took Jack to the Tennessee Aquarium on the Sunday after his birthday and it was a lot of fun..but that’s not what this article is about. It’s about how a random act of kindness made our day because it’s so rare now.

As we left the first building at the Aquarium we stopped to get a drink and then walked over to the second building. We were standing outside drinking our beverage before entering the building when Gerri took Jack’s sippy cup out of his bag and as she popped the top off the cup it fell out of her hand and rolled a short distance away.

At the same time a 8 or 9 year old boy walking into the building with his parents saw the lid rolling away and he hurriedly ran the lid down and picked it up and hurried back over to Gerri to hand it to her…that’s it…he didn’t save a life or cure cancer…he showed an act of kindness that was taught to him probably by his parents and he demonstrated that he could help a stranger and he took the few seconds to help Gerri.

You might feel let down by something so simple, but to Gerri and I after fighting crowds and seeing so many brats and uncaring parents from the first building. This kid was a ray of sunshine and it showed not all is lost in the world.