Keene Ward

I’m committed to do this activity annually for as long as I am able

I went to a movie at a local theater and there were only four other people in the small theater. We had a lighthearted conversation about the relative merits of various movie snacks. The strangers were very kind and the interaction made me value the shared experience of watching a movie in a theater all the more.

I felt like I was hired to protect there items. It made me stop what I was doing to acknowledge someone else. I felt powerful, which is a good thing.

At the lake, I complemented a girl on her fluency in Romanian: I said, "your pretty fluent." I think this act of kindness made her day and my day, too!

This was an absolutely beautiful and unplanned conversation. I didn’t know there was a need there until about half way into the conversation, when I suspect he started feeling safe enough to open up. You never know.

Gave away two thirds of the raspberries that I picked to my neighbor

Another sister and I have been working with a sister who is an elderly woman. We have been caring for her physically and emotionally as well as her needs to stay safe in her home.

The funny thing is that when I walked downstairs to carry thisfor my neighbor then my husband carried something for her too!

I was traveling to the Boston Airport on a bus to catch a flight to travel to Norway. When I got on the bus, I sat down in an empty row and put my stuff down on the seat next to me. The bus was filling up quickly with people like myself traveling alone. I saw a couple and their baby get on and there were no more seats together for them to sit with their baby. So I got up from my seat in the row I was sitting and said that they could have mine. I sat in the row behind them with another passenger.

The best part was the conversation at the end. What a beautiful way to end the night — with a lot of connection, laughter, stories about that swing(!), and, of course, the Klondike bars :). Thank you, Bill, for the wonderful evening.

This co-worker was having a tough time when doing a specific job. I helped her navigate through it.

I was pruning the blackberry bush, and met a traveler on the road named Yochanan (Hebrew for John so he said) white beard dressed in Forrest green with a Messenger bag and a staff. Upon hearing his name was Hebrew I shared that as I was pruning the bushes, I was contemplating Jesus Christ and what he has done for me and for all of humanity. He invited me to a soap shop that I couldn’t find. And I harvested some fresh and washed raspberries and left them where he would find them on his journey.

Gave away 2/3 of my raspberries to a neighbor.

Our friends let us stay in their home for a few days so that we could have some beach time with our kids. When we got there things were in rough shape, because they had left in a hurry and hadn’t had time to clean. Before we went home I took the time to clean their house thoroughly, and leave things in much better condition than we found them! It was a good feeling to imagine them coming home to a perfectly clean house!

I almost walked by some litter on my morning walk, then I remembered the Nation of Neighbors challenge, so I stopped and picked it up!

I went out of my way to treat the cashier kindly, and he shared with me his whole story about participating in Boy Scouts and receiving his Eagle Scout award, which he was clearly very proud of!