A Special Kind of Kind

A couple of years ago my wife and I drove to California to be at the high school graduation of one of our grandsons. At the ceremony, we witnessed something that was very profound.  The ceremony took place outside, so a stage had been set up for the event.  On the stage was the Superintendent of the school district as well as the Trustees.  Also on the stage was the Principal of the school to hand out the diplomas as each graduate was named.  Each graduate walked across the stage, received the diploma, shook hands with all present, and then left the stage.  As the students left the stage they each went down a receiving line made up of all the teachers from that school, and as they did so they shook hands with each one.

After a few students had gone down the receiving line we saw that every single student paused at one teacher who was in the middle of the line and hugged her and got hugged back.  The hugs weren't just perfunctory hugs.  They were very obviously heartfelt and emotional hugs. Many of the students, boys and girls, were crying as the hug exchange took place.

As the ceremony ended the parents and guests were allowed to go onto the football field which had been the backdrop for the ceremony and mingle with the students and teachers.  As we got into the crowd, we could hear many parents and grandparents commenting with amazement on what we had just witnessed, the hug exchange between all of the students and that teacher. 

As a side note, I'll share that the student body is comprised of the full range of socio-economic demographics, including some kids who have drug issues, drug issues, and gang affiliation issues.

Later on I asked Tyler about the teacher who hugged all the students and if it was perhaps a planned "hug-in."  He told us that there had been no plan at all, it was just that the teacher was very special to all of the students, no matter who they were.  He went on to share that they all thought of her as "a special mother", that she was always so kind and loving toward all of them no matter what was going on, and then he started crying as he talked about her.

I can only imagine how the sincere kindness of that one teacher may have a lasting effect on some, if not all, of those kids as they started out on the next chapters of their lives, and the kind of example she set for them.

Bottom Line Thought:  Kindness isn't just a lady thing.  How can you, as a man, be a kinder person, one whose light might shine on those in need of a bit of kindness each day as you do this thing called life?