Kind Like Katey

There are people who have done things for me that they probably don’t even remember.

I remember.

During breast cancer treatment, I kept working. My office was about an hour from home, which meant that after a full day of work, I still had an hour-long drive ahead of me.

Chemo exhaustion is hard to explain unless you’ve experienced it. It’s not just being tired. There were days on that drive home when I was so exhausted I swear I almost drifted off.

This wasn’t one of those days.

But I was tired. I was worn the hell out. And I wanted to go home.

Then I got a flat tire.

On I-40.

Because apparently cancer wasn’t enough.

I pulled over, and of course the flat was on the traffic side of the car. Cars and trucks were flying past me while I tried to figure out what the hell I was going to do.

Then something happened I didn’t expect.

An older gentleman and his wife had already driven past me.

They saw me sitting there on the side of I-40, but by the time they decided to stop, they were already past me.

So they got off at the next exit.

Got back on the highway going the other direction.

Got off again.

And got back onto I-40 just so they could circle all the way back around and pull over behind me.

Think about that.

They could have kept driving.

It would have been so easy to say, Somebody else will stop.

Instead, these two people made a damn circle around the highway to come back for a complete stranger.

They didn’t know me.

They didn’t know I’d been at work all day.

They didn’t know I was going through breast cancer treatment.

They didn’t know how exhausted I was.

They didn’t know that there were days when simply making that drive home felt like an accomplishment.

They just saw a woman on the side of I-40 who might need help.

And they came back.

That man got down on the side of the interstate, with traffic flying by him, and changed my tire.

The flat was on the traffic side, so he was down there right beside cars and trucks flying past us.

And I cried.

Not because of the tire.

Not really.

I cried because sometimes when you’re carrying so damn much, one person taking even a tiny piece of it off your shoulders is enough to break you open.

I don’t know their names.

I don’t know where they were going that day or what they had going on in their own lives.

And they probably have no idea that I’m sitting here telling this story now.

To them, maybe it was just changing a tire.

To me, it wasn’t.

That’s the thing about kindness.

You don’t always know what someone is going through.

You don’t know what happened before you crossed paths with them. You don’t know what they’re going home to. You don’t know what they’re grieving, fighting, hiding, or simply trying like hell to get through.

And you may never know what your small act meant to them.

That man didn’t know I had cancer.

He had already driven past me.

And he came back.

That’s what I want Kind Like Katey to be about.

Not grand gestures. Not recognition. Not doing something so somebody will tell you what a wonderful person you are.

Just noticing each other.

Stopping.

Turning around.

Helping.

Being kind when you have the opportunity to be kind.

Because what feels like a small thing to you might be exactly what somebody needs that day.

So if you see someone who could use a little kindness, don’t assume somebody else will do it.

Be the somebody.

Be Kind Like Katey.