Birthday Kindness

I love birthdays. I'm not very good at remembering them, but I like to celebrate nevertheless. Thankfully my friends and family are much better at remembering birthdays than I am because my recent birthday was feted in the kindest of ways.

My dear friend Carolin made the trip from Toronto. She has to take a bus, a streetcar, the subway and finally the GO train to get here. She arrived carrying this:



(The cute white dog was not in the carrying case - he is mine)





Then in one day she did this:







She conscripted the entire family. It was the best gift ever. A transformation. All I had to do was watch. (Now, however, I do a lot of watering - which I carry out with great pride every morning and evening.)

Birthdays are wonderful because people who care about us make a conscious effort to be kind. They go out of their way, they plan, they work hard, they work together, to make us feel special and appreciated. The front yard wasn't the only transformation that day. I was expanded.

It's somebody's birthday today. Right now. It might be the person standing behind you in line at Tim Hortons - buy them a coffee. It might be the person running to catch the elevator - hold the door. You don't have to dig up a yard and build a garden, you just have to be consciously kind. It's transformative.