That best portion of a good man’s life, his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love.  ~  William Wordsworth

Over the years I have been blessed by random acts of kindness directed toward my family and myself. I’ve always said it’s those little things that make a world of difference.

Kyle was showing us his mowing technique

Kyle is a self professed oatmeal guru and, you know, his oatmeal is really pretty good! We both like it plain with honey. Recently I read somewhere that honey ingested over a period of time can help counter the effects of pollen and other allergens in the spring. Well, I guess Kyle was listening when I was talking about the honey because I was not feeling well all weekend and, when I woke up this morning, I felt like crap. I asked Kyle if he would make me some oatmeal before we left for CCD class and church and he did so happily. However, when I began to eat it, it seemed very very very sweet. He said, “Like it, Aunt Heather? I added a lot of honey so you are not effected by the flowers this spring.” You see, I kept sneezing and my nose was draining all weekend. I did say to my mom, “It’s kind of like I have an allergy, cause I’m not achy like I have the flu.” Well, I guess Kyle heard that comment too and took it to heart. What a thoughtful young man. Come to think of it, every time I sneezed over the weekend, he would bless me, even if he were in another room. He would yell out, “Bless You!” and I would mumble, “Thank you.” What a polite and amazing little man. He brings a smile to my face.

Later on today, he left to go to the mall with my parents and I heard him say he wanted a pretzel at Auntie Anne’s. Just about every time Kyle and I go to the mall, I always get him a pretzel. As they were leaving, I over heard him talking to my dad, saying, “I want to get a pretzel at Aunt Annie’s, and let’s get Aunt Heather one too, cause she likes them. Maybe we can get one for Aunt Nikki, except she’s going home, so maybe not.” What a nice, sincere plan of thoughtfulness!

You know, these instances are not rare, in fact they are pretty plentiful, I just don’t remember them all the time. Since today is my dad’s 60th birthday I do remember a very sincere act of kindness…

Sometimes I can't tell if Kyle's working or playing...

Kyle is not much for physical activity nowadays, but he does enjoy helping out around the house when everyone else is helping. This past fall, dad had wood that needed stacked, among other chores. Kyle did help me for a while, with minimal reluctance, at least until a piece of wood rolled back on his fingers, bending them back. Of course, that does hurt and I don’t blame him for stopping and taking a break, but he left me. So I finished up what I needed to and helped dad get the furnace ready for the winter, cover the fishing boat, etc. Kyle eventually made his way around to us and was basically in the way. He couldn’t understand why we weren’t entertaining him. He said, “Pap pap what’s wrong?” and dad simply said, “I’m tired and thirsty and I want to finish this.” Kyle walked away and we didn’t think anything of it, until he came out of the house with a glass of water for dad. All he said was, “Here pap pap, I brought this for you.” Can you believe the kind thought? Without being prompted or expecting anything.

Kyle makes me so proud!

We are taught you must blame your father, your sisters, your brothers, the school, the teachers-you can blame anyone, but never blame yourself. It’s never your fault. But it’s always your fault, because if you want to change, you’re the one who has got to change. It’s as simple as that, isn’t it?
– Katharine Hepburn

First I would like to take a minute to say a prayer for those who have died and are injured in the Tucson Arizona shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords on Saturday, January 8, 2011. I would also like to say thank you so much to the brave men and women who have helped throughout the process, especially those who sacrificed themselves for others. I only hope that, if I were presented with such a situation, not that I’m hoping for it, I would do the same. The entire incident is truly tragic and I do pray for the gunman. But I must say, my heart sank when I heard about the little 9-year-old girl, Christina-Taylor Green who died.

Kyle and I were watching the news last night and he didn’t know what happened. I try to get him to watch the news weekly. He doesn’t watch it alone, I’m right beside him explaining what is happening, so he gets an idea of the world, good or bad. On the weekends, I must say, I read the news on my phone, and not on TV much. But during the week, after I take Kyle to swimming class, and while I’m making dinner, I put the news on. He was watching it pretty intently last night about the Tucson shooting incident. He did ask me what happened and why. So of course I can only report the facts that I’ve heard. I don’t think at this moment anyone has a clue as to why.

As we continued to watch, the news took a spin and started to point fingers blaming others for the gunman’s actions. I heard them blame Rush Limbaugh. They pointed their finger at Sarah Palin, bringing up her comments on the crosshairs of Arizona when she was running for vice president. They also showed a picture of a map of the United States with certain states containing the crosshairs over specific areas, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Then they showed a clip of Sarah saying something along the lines of, “Never retreat, just reload.” Well, of course, all that means is that Sarah Palin did the shooting and she did it by announcing it publicly, thus convincing a young man to do the shooting in her name….REALLY? Are we such a country of finding any public figure to blame for the actions of others? Next, they’ll be saying that the gun jumped up in the gunman’s hand and went crazy shooting everyone. Now I’m not saying that these public figures shouldn’t be held accountable for their actions and verbiage throughout their career, they should, but for a complete tragedy like the Tucson shooting, no one should be blamed except the gunman. After all, we, as adult humans, are responsible for our own actions.

During the entire blaming game, Kyle was asking why. “Why are they blaming them?”, “Did Rush Limbaugh do that?” etc. Then when they started on Sarah Palin, Kyle just looked at me and threw his hands up. He turned his head to me with the most puzzled look on his face and said, “Now how can Sarah Palin shoot those people from Alaska?” What a pure and honest thought. He proceeded to say, “Now that’s impossible!” I must say that did bring a smile to my sorrow filled heart. Then he proceeded to say, “That was like years ago!” referring to comments when Sarah was running.

With that comment I have to explain, when Sarah Palin was running for vice president along side John McCain in the 2008 elections, I went with friends to see her in the Johnstown rally. It was a lot of fun, I got her autograph and had the opportunity to speak to her. Not a long conversation, but she seemed like a stellar lady. Her daughter, Piper, was passing out stickers saying Vote for Piper’s Mom. I thought that was awesome! Afterwards I went back to mom and dad’s to hang with Kyle and show him the pictures, my autographed sign, and the sticker. He just smiled and thought that was really cool. Now, mind you, he was about 7 years old.

Later, I got tickets to see Sarah Palin at the Latrobe Airport on Halloween, and this time I took Kyle. I had him excused from school and I woke that poor little cat up around 5am to stand in line for hours, and it was COLD. Then, Bill Russell, who was running for Congress, was going through the line, shaking hands. I got a picture of Kyle with Russell and he gave Kyle a T-shirt. Well, Kyle just loved the whole experience, especially when we saw the McCain/Palin plane. When Sarah came out, he had a hard time seeing. I tried to lift him up for as long as I could. We had our signs and people were cheering. He even looked at me with a puzzling look like, “Am I allowed to yell?” I started cheering and he got his cue and started bouncing around and yelling, “Sarah! Sarah!” We were very close to the front of the line ready to shake her hand, but then Kyle had to use the restroom. So out of the line we went…

I took Kyle back to school since they were having their Halloween parade. He gave his teacher one of his signs and he wore his Russell T-shirt for the rest of the day. When I watched him march around the school for their Halloween parade, I still saw his excitement. Then, when I went to pick him up after school, I saw Kyle surrounded by teachers. I thought, “O no what did he do?” Kyle saw me and pointed in my direction with a huge smile. The teachers came over and started asking me about the rally. Kyle just stood there like a little celebrity, he thought he was the coolest. I explained to the teachers that I want to teach Kyle to get involved now, it’s his American duty to be educated and aware of the issues that affect us all. From then on, Kyle recognized Sarah Palin on TV, especially now that there’s the show, Palin’s Alaska.

As we continued to watch the news, he brought up Sarah Palin and the little girl and he said, “She was born the same year I was, 2001.” I explained that she was a 9/11 baby. He then said, “My real daddy was going to work when the plane flew over him before it crashed.” I had to think about this, one of the planes crashed in Somerset, which at the time was not far from where Kyle and my brother lived. I’m not sure where he heard that, but I guess it could have been true.

Watching the news last night was not only a lesson for Kyle, but for myself as well. As parents, role models, etcetera, we need to be there to help guide children, monitor what they see and hear and especially help clarify the news and the world around us. That conversation taught me to listen because Kyle, as with many other children, have a lot to say and you just might learn something.

I forget what I was taught. I only remember what I have learnt.  ~Patrick White

Since it’s the New Year and generally speaking, this is a time of reflectance on the past and planning for the future. Looking back on the years it’s amazing what I’ve learned, either through formal education or just plain trial and error. Both are equally important and effective methods of acquiring information, at least for me. I know there are 3 basic styles of learning: auditory (learning by hearing), visual (learning by seeing) and kinesthetic (learning by doing). I’ve always been a mix of visual and kinesthetic, leaning more toward the ladder. As my mom would say, I never learned my lesson, that is until after I’ve done something I wasn’t suppose to do. But what’s fascinating to me are the little things we pick up on the way, that become part of our daily life, for one reason or another this information resonates in our minds.

Kyle Piper at the Vatican Splendors exhibit. Of course he found a place to play.

So that leads me to my next thought, why do we remember some information verses other? I don’t have a degree in childhood education, or teaching, so maybe the answer is pure and simple, but I’m guessing it’s as complicated as the power of our brains. So why is some information retained and the rest omitted from our memory? Is it because as humans our brains can only retain 10% of what we’re taught? Maybe it’s because we’re just plain lazy or we don’t pay attention. Or are we overwhelmed with too much, on a daily bases that we can’t compute the information and commit it to memory? Whatever the reason, it’s still truly a wonder to watch a child learn. Especially when they surprise you by what they heard and remembered. I guess what impresses me more is how they apply the knowledge and what they get from it. I’m very blessed to have had the opportunity to see this type of thinking and learning first hand. Kyle has always impressed me and surprised me with the “stuff” he picks up on, especially the details he sees.

Today, I took Kyle and my mom to the Vatican Splendors Exhibit in the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh. Being an art lover and Catholic it seemed like a perfect day for me. I wanted Kyle to come along. Even though I know he wouldn’t quite understand all the art pieces, I believed there is always some information that will leak in his mind and stay with him. No matter how small the information is, it’s still learning and gaining cultural experience. As we went through the exhibit, I was read to him about the artwork, adding my limited knowledge on some of the pieces. He was interested at first but as the time went on, the excitement soon wore off. We not only saw paintings and frescos, but we saw relics from saints and garments wore by a variety of popes and cardinals. For me seeing the pieta by Michelangelo Buonarroti took my breath away. I tried to show him that this piece started out as a large rock and was sculpted into a very emotionally powerful piece with flowing soft lines. Throughout the exhibit I pointed out the basics and educate him on art as well as our Catholic faith. I pointed out the 4 evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and how they are sometimes portrayed as symbols. (Matthew –Human/Angel, Mark –Winged Lion, Luke –Winged Ox, John –Eagle). I talked about St. Peter and St. Paul and how keys and a sword represent them, respectively. We saw an oil painting on St. Sebastian, who was pierced by arrows, adding a bit on St. Bartholomew who was skinned alive. Then we came to a relief on the martyrdom of St. Paul. On the left, it showed St. Paul being taken by the Romans, then at the center of the piece it showed St. Paul kneeing with a Roman solder holding a sword above his read ready to decapitate him, and on the right of the relief sat Nero. We continued through the exhibit and spent little time in the section on the popes, only because Kyle was getting tired and hungry. He loved the gift shop, as he usually does. Mom got him a Bibleopoly board game and he picked out a small gift for his CCD teacher.

After finishing the exhibit, eating and touring the rest of the history center, we went to mass at St. Stanislaus Kostka Church. This is a beautiful church with stained glass windows lining the left and right walls, and a collage of frescos covering the ceiling. Some scenes were easy to understand, except for the scene directly above our heads. It looked like a battle scene. Kyle said to me, “Aunt Heather, look the decapitation of St. Paul.” Wow, I was impressed! First that he remembered the story, and second that he remembered what decapitation was. I must say, sitting there in such a blessed place just brought chills to me and really touched my heart. He picked something up at the exhibit! Some piece of knowledge on art and Catholicism at one time! Then to really make me more proud of him, he took the $5 my dad gave him and put it in the offering plate. That’s my thoughtful, smart and loving Kyle. Not only are we blessed to have him but so is the world.