The transforming power of kindness began whispering to me when I sat across the table from a classmate at our 45th high school reunion. Not the classmate who led me to apologize for my short career as a mean girl in elementary school, but another one. A classmate who was more acquaintance than friend while we were growing up. A classmate who, when we were young moms, showed me the transforming power of kindness.

We became first time mothers during the same year.
We both had unremarkable pregnancies and easy labor and delivery.
We both learned our newborns had life-threatening conditions requiring surgeries at far away hospitals.
We both had supportive husbands and extended family.

But I had something my she didn’t have. Because my child was born 6 months after my classmate gave birth, I had her.

She and her husband were my parents’ neighbors. When she heard we would make an overnight stop at my parents’ home on our way to the hospital where our son was in NICU, my classmate offered to stop by.

We were weary, worried, and hurting when we arrived at my parents’ home. All I wanted to do was curl up in the dark and lick my wounds. But Mom had already invited my classmate over. Soon we were sitting across the table from one another. She took a deep breath and told her story.

She described her daughter’s birth and diagnosis.
She disclosed her mamma trauma.
She talked about her baby’s hospital stay.

To read the rest of this post, click here to visit Key Ministry’s blog for parents.

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