Project Cheer: More kind people

Two more good friends have reported back with acts of kindness!

First Emily told me that she had spread the love of random acts of kindness by going to a "friend's house who has a baby and folded all her laundry and helped her clean her house." Emily is also awesome for being my own private sounding board and cancer whisperer. So yay for her!

Then the lovely Amy left me this comment: "Tamsin, I made whole wheat muffins with coconut honey butter and sent them to the funeral of an older gentleman in our ward that I didn't know. I made the basket extra pretty:) Also, I'm on my way to bring some grub to my neighbor who just had knee surgery. Onward Project Cheer!"
That girl never ceases to amaze. Click over to her blog and find out why :)

Can I just add that my favourite thing about all of the acts of kindness that have been done so far are the kind of thing that seem like no big deal to the person doing them, but that mean so much to the recipient. I know this, because a friend has been doing my dishes and taking out my trash for the past month and it is one of the greatest luxury ever!

Thank you so much friends, it means more than you will ever know.

Project Cheer: Quickly, quickly

Just a quick little post to let y'all know that if you're looking for updates on my dad's health, you should go to my mum's blog. While I'm going to keep Project Cheer going for as long as we all keep up the good work, I won't be posting much about my dad's current condition. That's not my story to tell.

So read my mama's blog! Annerobo.blogspot.com

Project Cheer: An Update

First of all, I have to say thank you to all of you: For your comments, emails, phone calls, love, prayers and friendship. Wow, people! Thank you so much. I can honestly say that every time I've felt down, worried, frustrated over the distance and time difference, one of you has popped out of nowhere to make me feel better. And I'm not even the star of this show! But my mum tells me that my dad reads my blog now (Hello Daddy!), so your kindnesses to me are reaching him too.

You are doing well, Helper Brigade!

Now, let me tell you about some of the people who have reported back their acts of kindness to me so far:

1. The first person to tell me about something they had done was our good friend Clayton, who is blessed with mad hair cutting skillz. Not only did he give a young relative a stylin' new look, he also decided to never charge money for a hair cut ever again. Present and future kindness! Thanks, Clay, for getting us off to such a great start :)
   
   
2. Next up is Jessica, who reported that she "bought someone who was a having really hard day her 4 favorite chocolate bars." Let's be honest, aren't we all wishing we had a friend like Jessica at this very moment?
   
   
3. My very own Mummy contributed! Last week she was able to get a friend any fellow knitter a little part-time job knitting for money! Only a knitter (this is for you, Heather) would know and appreciate 1) what a huge deal it is to get paid to do something you love (and spend every free moment doing anyway), and 2) the sheer magnanimity it would take to hand over such a gig to someone else. Helpful, kind and selfless - that's my mama!
   

Keep the kindnesses coming, friends. Oh, and should you happen to be modest as well as filled with the milk of human kindness and don't want to post in the comment section, tell me what you did via email (tamsinrobole at gmail dot com) or in person.

Also, the above photo is me and my pappy on mine and Nick's wedding day. Happy times - with more to come.

Project Cheer: I have a project and you can help!

My dad has cancer.

Throughout the month or so since we've found out, my family has gone through endless cycles of feelings of shock, confusion, anger, fear, regret, hope, optimism and lots and lots of love. Ultimately, we think it's going to be OK.
However, the next couple of months for my Daddy-o will be filled with radiation therapy, chemo, surgery and endless trips back and forth from the hospital. Lots of stress and worry. And meanwhile, here on the other side of the world, there is so little I can do and it's driving me crazy.

On the day we found out, I spent a few hours in shock and a few hours crying in Nick's arms. The feeling of helplessness was almost overwhelming. Then I remembered some friends who were having a much, much harder day than mine (believe me!) and I thought: "Well, at least we can do something for them." So we dried my tears, washed my face and sneakily planted some flowers in their garden to surprise them when they got home.

And we felt so much better.

Which got me thinking: My dad isn't really one for get well cards and sentimental goop. But he is one for helping people. In fact, one of the things that made my mum fall in love with my dad was his kindness and ever-readiness to help. And my parents both taught me to value kindness. While I was growing up I may not always have appreciated sharing our family Christmas with the random elderly bachelors of the neighbourhood, but looking back with adult eyes, I'm impressed by my parents willingness to help and to share. My dad has always been willing to do anything for anyone. But that will probably not be possible for the next few months.

This is where you come in.

Will you go out and do something unselfish and kind for someone else in honor of my dad? While he's out of commission, will you fill in for him as part of the Helpful Brigade? And when you've completed your kindness, will you come back here and leave a comment or send me an email (tamsinrobole at gmail dot com) and tell me about it, so I can tell him about it? I think he's going to like this.

Thank you.