The Kindest Act that Someone Has Ever Done for Me (and My Dad)

Mark Twain

Sometimes you slip a sentence, a word or a comment about something that is near and dear to your heart into a conversation or in this case, someone's article. I mentioned that my father who is a WWII Navy Veteran was going to celebrate his 90^th birthday at the end of March. Patti Walden saw that comment and immediately sprang into action at the beginning of February.

Patti sent me a short message that simply said, "Hi Michele,
Does you father have a model of the PC he served on? (I'm part of club that builds models of all kinds, and I was just wondering....) Patti

Here is the completed project:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/slideshow/80854/building_a_ship_model_to_honor_wwii.html?cat=7

For the past few months, Patti and I have been messaging back and forth regarding Dad's Navy service, the ship he served on and his dates of service and his rank. Dad served aboard a PC 1213. He was awarded the American Theatre Medal and the Navy Good Conduct Medal. My father was a Pharmacist Mate 1^st Class (PHM1) or as the fellas called him, "Doc" on board of his ship. You can see him here.

Patti has been researching, ordering and working diligently on building a model of my father's WWII ship for his birthday. My father is legally blind and we both know that he will not be able to fully appreciate the beauty and craftsmanship that Patti put into this model but Dad will "see" the kindness behind this unselfish act for a Veteran's service to his country that he dearly loves.

Kindness begets kindness - when we told my husband's boss what Patti was doing for my Dad's birthday present, he offered to pay the overnight FedEx shipping on the model from Washington to New York. Imagine that, he will cover the cost no matter what it is. Cliff said, "I want to be a part of this, let me offer to pay the shipping costs and get in on this wonderful gesture."

Saturday is my father's birthday and he will be 90 years old. As I am getting older, I am reminded of the words of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel,

"When I was young, I admired the clever people. Now that I am old, I admire the kind people."

Yes, I admire the kindness of others so much more these days that I am getting older, too.

Sources:

http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/011213.htm

www.nopms.net

http://spg.navylog.org/individual.aspx?&navy_log_id=91832