Woman receives a small surprise when she offers to spread a little kindness

Kind gestures are far, few and in between these days, so when we see those glimmers of hope, we give a wry smile. 

Angela Henderson, was recently reduced to tears while sifting through a flower display with her four-year-old daughter in Australia. 

A strange woman had approached the mum-of-two, tapping her on the shoulder while she was preoccupied. 

But it was her kindness that had left Angela humbled.

 

A post shared by Finlee and Me (@finleeandme) on May 18, 2017 at 4:44pm PDT

This woman approached Angela, so she could buy her a bunch of flowers, which little Chloe picked out through her favourite colours. 

Her reason for displaying such a wonderful act was simple – kindness follows kindness. 

Angela had been shopping in Coles earlier, and when she had reached the top of the check-out there was an elderly man paying for groceries. 

The mum-of-two occasionally likes to spread some kindness, and on this day she offered to pay for the 89-year-old's shopping: "He thanked me and said that he’s 89-years-old and doing OK."

 

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"His wife died last year and he also lost four other family members last year, one a 46-year-old female who dropped dead. He thanked me for my random acts of kindness but insisted he pay for his own groceries."

Before they left, the man thanked Angela as he revealed it's normally him taking care of others and not the other way around, appreciating the mum's kind gesture. 

But while he shared his story with the mum-of-two the queue behind continued to grow, with people in line waiting to be served. 

 

A post shared by Finlee and Me (@finleeandme) on Aug 8, 2017 at 4:57am PDT

Nonetheless, the check-out lady never once pressured the pair to move on with their shopping, allowing the elderly man to take his time while packing up, and then both parted ways. 

"Every time Chloe and I go shopping we stop and look at the flowers. […]. It’s our bonding time and I like to think we’re creating childhood memories."

"While we were admiring the flowers, a lady by the name of Danielle tapped me on the shoulders," added Angela. 

Danielle was standing in the back of the queue at Coles, witnessing the earlier events and took on board Angela's kind gesture. 

"I overheard what you said to that man and I now would like to buy you flowers because the people need good people like you. So please choose any bunch of flowers you’d like," stated Danielle.

 

As I write this I have tears rolling down my cheeks, not from sadness but from happiness. I was at Coles at The Gap this afternoon getting some groceries for dinner. Chloe (my 4 year old) and I got in line with our goods and I saw a man in front of me. For whatever reason, I asked him if I could pay for his groceries because I like to do random acts of kindness every week and today I’d like to buy his groceries. He thanked me and said that he’s 89 years old and doing ok. His wife died last year and also he lost 4 other family members last year and one a 46 year old female who dropped dead. He thanked me for my random acts of kindness but insisted he pay for his own groceries. His final words were: “most times I’m the one taking care of everyone; thank-you.” While he shared his story, the line behind me started to grow, but the checkout lady was beyond kind, patient and at no stage rushed him and for that a huge shout out to the Coles checkout person. But… the story grows. Every time Chloe and I go shopping we stop and look at the flowers. We admire the different colour combinations, smell the different ranges and talk about what craft we could do with the flowers. It’s our bonding time and I like to think we’re creating childhood memories. While we were admiring the flowers, I lady by the name of Danielle tapped me on the shoulders and said “I overheard what you said to that man and I now would like to buy you flowers because the people need good people like you. So please choose any bunch of flowers you’d like. Chloe proceeded to choose a beautiful combination of orange, purple and blue; not to mention one of the more expensive bunches (sorry about that Danielle). I share this story because after crying my eyes out yesterday after the Barcelona tragedy my heart was heavy. However, regardless of what assholes continue to do to our world, I must continue to show my kids that there is good in the world. Not all people are bad. And no matter what happens when they get older, that they need to be kind. Kind to their partner, kind to their family, kind to their friends and kind to the world in general. So spread kindness.

A post shared by Finlee and Me (@finleeandme) on Aug 18, 2017 at 11:01pm PDT

Angela was taken aback by the gesture, but honoured that someone would do for her what she would do for others.

The Brisbane-based mum was humbled to realise that 'not all people are bad', and she will continue to show her kids that there is good in the world. 

Angela will help her children to understand: "No matter what happens when they get older, that they need to be kind. Kind to their partner, kind to their family, kind to their friends and kind to the world."

Kindness follows kindness, make sure you spread a little today.