WhatFriendsDo Newsletter: Random Acts of Kindness

Valentine's Day is Different this Year

I've always loved Valentine's Day. Even before I had a Valentine, I loved the decorations, colors, candy and the Valentine greetings, of course. After all, who can resist a box of chocolates, heart-shaped red hots, or those adorable conversation hearts? Even though they've never really tasted all that good to me, I still get a kick out them every year. Be Mine. Love You. Cloud Nine. All of the colors of Valentine's Day -- the reds and the pinks -- put me in the mind of love and romance. But for me this Valentine's Day, the color pink screams breast cancer.

A close friend was diagnosed with breast cancer last year at the alarmingly young age of 31. While she found her tumor very early, she had an aggressive form of cancer for her age which meant she would have an aggressive cancer treatment. After six grueling chemotherapy treatments and nearly every complication imaginable, she had a double mastectomy on February 6th. Thankfully, her surgery was successful and went off without a hitch, but her road to recovery will still be a long one. Undoubtedly, Valentine's Day this year will be far different for her than it has been before.

My sister and I set up a WhatFriendsDo.com website for my friend when we found out about her breast cancer to help coordinate all of the help she and her husband were going to need over the coming months with meals, childcare, rides to/from chemotherapy, etc. Since she has never been one to ask for help, this was such a weight off her shoulders. The response was more than she'd ever dreamed it would be. She was overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support. It seemed whatever we'd ask of the "Team," they would find a way to make happen. While our friend was going through the toughest time in her life, she once told me amazingly that she felt like she was the one who was blessed. Blessed with all of the love coming her way. Blessed by the kindness and generosity shown to her by family, friends and often by those she didn't really know at all. And blessed by small, random acts of kindness that made her smile and helped her through many tough days

February 17th is Random Acts of Kindness Day. Here are some of the most touching random acts of kindness shown to my friend over the past few months:

This February, I can't think of a better way to celebrate Valentine's Day than to shower random acts of kindness on friends, loved ones, or best of all, complete strangers. We all love to get Valentine's greetings so this month send an extra special greeting. You never know when some time down the road a random act of kindness may be enough to help you get through a tough day.