Kindness Matters

Think back on your most memorable road trip.

I’ve had a few memorable road trips. My first book tour was fun, lots of trips back and forth to Canada, this last trip driving the jeep across the country, driving across Kenya to the safari place, (our guide got lost, our bridge washed away, we got stuck in the mud in the pouring rain, AND we got a flat tire, all happened on one long ride, that was pretty memorable! but MOST memorable is the Kindness Bus tour we went on for the Kids For Peace annual Kindness Matters event.

This might get a little long because I don’t want to leave out the best parts.

G and I painted the yellow school bus, blue. I painted murals on all four sides and on the top. One day we were sitting with Jill, founder and director of KfP and she wondered out loud about who would drive the bus. G said Kelly could do it. Fearless oldest son, he might have been half kidding, but it was true. Jill suddenly serious asked if we could ask him.

That’s how it all started. Kelly agreed if he could bring his family along. We all flew to New York in January. Jill and I, Kelly, Marion , kids… We had shipped the bus ahead and had to pick it up in New Jersey. Having never driven it before, with only a few pointers about breaking, Kelly drove into Manhattan toward Times Square. We had to find parking because the following morning we would be appearing on Good Morning America. If you’ve ever tried to park in the busy areas of the city, you might have an idea of the complexity of parking a giant school bus anywhere near Times Square. We circled the area. At one point we looked out and there was Kelly’s wife and three little ones walking. He blew the horn. Their surprised faces (along with the rest of crowds on the sidewalk ) were comical.

Probably the fifth or sixth parking lot owner after hours of driving around and being turned away, heard our story and said he knew a guy. We were able to park within walking distance to our hotel and GMA. An honest to goodness New York miracle

GMA in the wee hours of that cold January morning was quick, painless, and over before we knew it. Kindness week is a global annual event which grows larger every year. Over 19 million kids participate. Originally designed for schools, they later added a family version. There is a checklist of kind acts to do for the week. The list was made up by a classroom of children, so color hearts and hand them to people is one example. Play a board game with an elderly person was another. Our goal was to do everything on the list stopping at key locations to spread the message of kindness.

There we were, eight kids ages 2 to 15, Four adults on the road to Washington DC to the Peace headquarters (they have one).to do a planned kindness project. After the peace place, there was just enough time to see the Lincoln memorial which was a long walk for little legs, but it was worth the extra effor, because it was there that we started to see the effects of our kindness crusade. Tired and a little cranky as we started up the steps, there were suddenly a lot of people to hand hearts to. As each person looked down with surprise and then a smile, I saw the kids perk up and bound happily up the stairs, paper hearts and smiling people all around.

And so began the most unexpected series of kind acts turning into loving sweet interactions.

We saw people of all ages, in town after town, change in a second. We saw grouchiness fall away. Frowns become big genuine smiles. Sceptics and eye rollers turn into friends. We saw kindness melt hearts right before our eyes and felt the warmth of one loving sweet moment after another.

It was a phenomenon that no one, not even Jill could have predicted. The sweet energy that seemed to be with us from that day on, was palatable. On the day we were scheduled to ‘’play board games with the elderly’’ it was raining, some things had happened, we were late. They were concerned about getting to lunch on time. Some of the residents we not looking pleased about us interrupting their day. Our group, going in looked apprehensive. Who would have guessed that it would turn out to be one of the best days and sweetest interactions of all different ages and personalities.

Differences were quickly forgotten as games and conversation and laughter, even tears of joy filled that one community room. Marion bravely struck up a friendship with the most annoyed looking of the group. when I looked over, there she was with baby Rose chatting away while he smiled and chuckled with them, proving once again that no one was immune to kindness. G showed up with the grand dog, (he had elected to drive himself and meet us, rather than drive the full way on the bus). The no dogs rule dissolved when he arrived and he and Stone were additional love and kindness and even a little more fun. Lunch was late, no one wanted us to leave, we didn’t want to leave…

When the tour was officially over, we still had to get the bus back to California. We caravaned just our family. Everyone else had flown back. We stopped in Sedona. Still wearing our yellow Kindness Matters tshirts we drew a small crowd of curiosity. We were tired. We gave the briefest of explanations, but then people were thanking us, people were excited about the kindness challenge, one woman insisted on giving me her earrings. It was an interesting wrap to an extraordinarily memorable tour. The road trip, permeated with kindness energy, continued all the way home…

Kindness doesn’t only matter, it affects us deeply. It changes minds and moods in a moment. Kindness opens people up to other people. I’ve witnessed many examples of it’s moving power, as I’m sure we all have.

Once again GMA will be featuring the Kids for Peace The Great Kindness Challenge. Tomorrow Jill will be on the show. Saturday is the official kick off. If you want more information go to kidsforpeqce.org. Or just google Kids for Peace.