Thank you for the amazing act of kindness

On June 17, while at the Safeway in Smallwood Village, I experienced an amazing act of kindness and wanted to send my deepest thanks to the kind lady who helped me.

I am an 86-year-old Korean War veteran who was buying some grocery items for my wife and me. I unloaded my cart onto the checkout counter for payment. I then went for my wallet and suddenly realized I had left it at home. I was a bit embarrassed and mentioned it to the cashier. I told her that I could return the items to their locations and would return with payment. She responded that the items could be placed in the freezer until my return.

However, and to my great surprise, a very kind and generous lady in front of me overheard our exchange and offered to pay for my groceries. I told her it wasn’t necessary, but she insisted and paid the cashier $27.

I can’t begin to tell you how touched and grateful I am by this random act of kindness. It’s obvious she lives a life of generosity and gracious purpose.

So often today we hear about the ways in which people hurt and abuse each other. This very generous act is a bright light of kindness we need to see more of. It might have been generated by my military war veteran hat, but I’ll never know for sure.

I will definitely pay it forward, but I hope the kind woman will see herself in this letter and will take heart in knowing she is very appreciated, has had a big impact on this veteran (and his wife) and will be kept in our prayers.

Ma’am, thank you very much.

Frank Velez, Waldorf