An Unexpected and Kind Gesture

 

In the midst of some rather arduous circumstances happening in the last couple of months, I was feeling pretty down last week. Halfway through the week, on a particularly difficult day, these beautiful, red roses were delivered to my doorstep. When I answered the door, I was sure they were being dropped off for my next door neighbor. Completely taken aback, I asked the delivery man who they were for. In a thick Russian accent - and a huge smile across his face - he said: "Why, they are for you!"

After finding out a couple of weeks ago that an old client had passed away, I had sent a sympathy card to his family. His parents were extremely supportive, which was something that was quite rare when I worked in social services. I not only really liked them, I had a tremendous amount of admiration and respect for both of them.

I hadn't seen or worked with this client since I left my old job over a year ago. We had worked together for a few years, and he was a really sweet guy with a severe traumatic brain injury. He had a great sense of humor, and a lot of determination to live his life as normally as possible despite all the daily challenges he faced.

Along with the roses was a card from his parents thanking me for all the support and kindness I had given to their son. It made me cry. It's amazing to me that they would do something so generous and thoughtful when they are grieving such a huge loss. It is one of the kindest gestures I've gotten in a long time.