A Cup Of Kindness

I’ve just enjoyed a cup of some of the best coffee in the world and the story of how I got hold of it made it even better.
The coffee is Gevalia ®. It’s Swedish. It’s deep, dark, and delicious and the version I’ve got is a limited edition made from Popayan beans, apparently rarer than other Colombian varieties.

It was on offer during the silent auction at the ARE ® retreat and I wanted it. I hadn’t seen this brand around in 17 years so I decided that would be the item I’d bid on.
It had a bid already. I put mine underneath it and went away. Every few hours I’d check, but no one else had bid.

I could see in my mind me taking this coffee back home across the border.
About a half hour before the auction closed I checked again. Still no other takers.
When I came back to settle up I found the original bidder had come by and outbid me.

Such things happen.

“I guess it’s more important for you to have it than me, umm, I mean, it was meant for you to have it,” I stumbled to her as she collected it from the table.

That evening as I was falling asleep I could still see me taking it across the border and I had the strangest feeling she was going to give it to me.
Wishful thinking? Maybe. So I dismissed it and went to sleep.

The next morning on my way to the conference room the woman who’d outbid me, Ellen Wicklund, D.O., stopped me in the hall and said, “You know that coffee you wanted that I got? I’m going to give it to you.”
“I was going to give it to my son, but I want to give it to you because you’re such a sweetheart.”

I don't know what I did to qualify as “a sweetheart.” It might just be that she, being kind and thoughtful herself, sees these qualities in others.
It ultimately doesn't matter what actions led to this gift. The only thing that matters is how we treat people .
Kindness counts.