Proms and Life

Kind (adj) generous, warmhearted, good.

Recently, I got to experience the joy of others being kind to a stranger. More specifically, young women being kind to an even younger woman. It's about a prom and a dress and a girl's dream. It's about helping someone fulfill that dream, as inconsequential as it may seem to us.

It began with a grandmother's request to help her granddaughter go to her prom. This teenager has struggled and is now taking steps towards a better life. These steps are small and tenuous, however, as she is barely "out of the woods." So her desire to go to the prom and re-engage with the world on healthier terms is a big deal. But alas, the family has no money to send the princess to the ball.

And that's where her fairy godmothers come in. In response to an email request to borrow an age-appropriate dress, the young women I know stepped up in spades. Our teenager now gets to go "shopping" from a selection of dresses. How cool is that?

I often think that helping those less fortunate than me means a long-distance flight to a far off land or at least a car ride to another city. What I often forget is that there are those in need in my very own back yard. I just have to open my eyes and be willing to help. This time it was a simple email blast ~ who knows what will be required of me next time?