Pay It Forward

I belong to a website called Flylady and the last few weeks they have been sharing Pay It Forward stories. If you've never seen the movie, add it to your Christmas Wish List. It's one of the best movies you'll ever see. I wanted to share some of the stories with you. Hope you enjoy them. I think there are more on her website. And if you have any stories of your own, I'd love to hear them! :0)

Dear FlyLady

Don't know if this will really qualify as a pay it forward incident,
but wanted to share anyway.

Last fall my family was facing winter with no insulation in our house
and no source of heat. We had moved into our incomplete house out of
necessity and due to unforeseen financial difficulties were able to
pay our mortgage payment and utilities with no money left over for
extras. Although we live in the south, we still have winter and
temperatures at and below the freezing point (as an example, this week
we had a couple of nights when the overnight low was 11 degrees!).

An acquaintance gave us a wood burning stove, which another
acquaintance helped my husband to install over the Thanksgiving
weekend. Now we had a heat source, which helped some, but with a
house that is just a shell, any heat that is generated is quickly lost
thru rafters and exterior walls (remember, no insulation, but also no
interior walls or ceilings either).

It was a real struggle to stay warm during this time, but by wearing
several layers of clothing and using electric blankets at night, we
were surviving. With the approach of Christmas, we had begun receiving
Christmas cards. Two weeks before Christmas, a card came in the mail
addressed to me. The return address on the card was Santa Claus,
North Pole. I opened the card to find a cashiers check for $500.
Inside the card, the sender had written that his elves had told him
that we were having a hard time this year and to please accept this
gift from him. The card was signed Love Santa.

I still have no idea who the sender was, or how they found out about
our situation. The post mark was from 1000+ miles away. We were able
to purchase a good deal of insulation with that gift, and it went a
very long way toward keeping our us warm last winter. Each time I
think of the generosity of the giver, it also warms my heart.

Warm and toasty in North West Alabama
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Dear FlyLady,

Last Christmas, my husband and I treated ourselves on a cold winter
night here in Missouri to a "Mugs Up" hamburger, fries and a icy
glass mug of root beer. This is a favorite treat for us. The little
"Mugs Up" drive-in has no indoor seating but rather has old-fashioned
car hops! They don't use roller skates but still take orders, run
trays etc., in the cold weather. Our waitress left our tray on the
window-it was so cold we pulled the food into the car to eat and
rolled the window as high as we could with the tray on it. Our total
check was about $6 (big spenders!) and we routinely tip $4. But this
night in addition, to our usual payment I slipped a $20 under one of
the root beer mugs. My husband wanted us to hurry and drive away
before she could say anything but I told him, no, she needed to know
we meant it or she might worry that we made a mistake and feel
guilty. So I hesitated and sure enough, she ran back to the door of
the drive-in and yelled "Wait, you made a mistake!". I just rolled
down the window, waved good-bye and replied "Merry Christmas!". She
started to cry as she said "Thank you-it means a lot!"

This may be a long way to relate this kind of "pay it forward" but
you have to appreciate that those kids work where tips are slim and
the conditions aren't the greatest and my husband and I value their
hard work!

My husband has also recently taken to anonymously buying the dinners
of World War II veterans that we spot having a meal in our local
grocery store's deli-restaurant.

It is a great feeling to do something good without anyone expecting
it and without expecting anything in return. I highly recommend it
to other Flybabies. If you are blue because you are lonely or the
holidays just bring back too many memories-try "paying it forward"-
pretty soon your mood goes from blue to glowing and you understand
what the Spirit of Christmas is really all about!

Emily
Flybaby in Kansas City Mo.