Kindness - Joy There Is

Kindness - Joy There is a house in the neighborhood that seems to bring smiles to everyone who passes it. The reason it brings such joy is not that it is a grand house by any means. In fact, the house is quite modest, but it does nevertheless bring a great deal of joy to everyone who live in the area. The woman who lives there, Mrs. Maryble is widowed and probably in her early seventies.

She lives on her pension and makes extra money here and there by doing odd jobs such as sewing, babysitting, or pet-sitting. From what the older neighbors say, when her husband was alive he was the gardener, and kept everything ship shape, but since his death, she had not been able to afford to hire anyone to do the heavy work, nor could she afford to buy the materials for the repairs made in the first place. The neighborhood took her on as a project.

To be truthful, most of the neighbors got involved not so much from the kindness of their heart, but because they were concerned about the way the neighborhood looked. Her house was definitely an eyesore, and seemed to stand out from all the other houses on the block. The involvement encompassed a three block area, with even a few people from the street over lending their support. It was really amazing to see all the resources that became available when word got out.

Someone's brother owned a nursery, and was happy to loan his work crew for a day and teach those willing to learn how to properly prune and cut back various trees and shrubs. He also furnished bedding plants and replacement trees for two dead trees in her front yard that had to be cut down. And he also re-seeded both her back and front lawns.

A couple of women in the next block who are real garden buffs, came over and planted the bedding plants in her flower beds and tidied up a few other areas of the yard. Mrs. Maryble has several pieces of "yard art," a couple of elves, two frogs sitting with an umbrella, and a small wishing well. The wishing well was in need of repair in a few places, and someone from somewhere had it repaired in no time.

At times it was actually difficult to keep up with all the volunteers and what exactly they were contributing. And no one really tried to keep up with it all, it became sort of an on-going project that people joined in when they had the time to spare. A young couple down the street, both of whom worked at a home improvement center, were able to pick up paint, tools, and supplies at a discount and when the company heard about the project, they donated the lumber to repair Mrs.

Maryble's fence and gate, and even furnished her with a new front door. They also furnished new lighting fixtures for her front porch. By the time it was over, Mrs. Maryble's house looked brand new. Her entire house, inside and out, had been painted, window screens replaced, and anything and everything that needed paired was fixed. An older man a couple of doors down owns a used appliance store and was more than willing to replace her stove and refrigerator.

And the home improvement center sent her a new micro-wave oven and an apartment size washer and dryer. The point is that if any one individual had to buy all the supplies and labor, it would have been a substantial cost, however, because no one individual had to bear the burden, no one was put upon financially, and Mrs. Maryble did not feel obligated to any one particular person.

Moreover, the retail stores that contributed to the project gained a lot of publicity, especially after the local newspaper did a front page spread on Mrs. Maryble's home. The theme of the story was neighbors helping neighbors and how much can be accomplished when everyone.