26 Acts of Kindness - Day 18

Today we honored Caroline Previdi, age 6. Caroline, like Joey, was nicknamed "Boo" due to her resemblance to the Monsters, Inc. character. She was also known as "Silly Caroline" as she always went out of her way to get people to smile. She used to play peek-a-boo with her kindergarten neighbor on the bus to distract him when he was upset.

She was obviously a giving little girl who was concerned about others. Last year she even broke into her piggy bank to donate her money to the Christmas toy-drive her church was having.

Caroline loved to dance and sing. She also loved to draw, she would make artwork and leave it for her family - once her father was gone on business and found a drawing in his briefcase that said "I love you Daddy!"

She followed her 3rd grade brother everywhere he went, much to his dismay. She loved having something special in her hair.  And Caroline was a Yankees fan... so much so that when the family went on a trip to Boston and was going to go to a game at Fenway Park she absolutely refused to go in (which, in my opinion, is kind of sad because she probably would have gotten a kick out of everyone singing "Sweet Caroline" in Fenway =) ).

One of the people interviewed at Caroline's funeral was the doctor who treated her as a newborn infant (I'm guessing she was premature, since he was a neonatologist). He said that he is so used to sending parents home with their now-healthy baby and reassuring them that everything will be fine and to invite him to their wedding. He would never get that chance with Caroline.

When I looked at the picture of Caroline, she did, indeed, look a lot like Boo. She also would play peek-a-boo with her neighbor,  and I remembered that I had seen the most adorable little Boo baby beenie on the Disney Store's website recently. So, I thought for my Act of Kindness I would go pick up that baby hat and deliver it to a hospital and some parents could take it home with their new little girl.

So this morning I drove down to the mall and walked into the Disney Store. But apparently they don't sell that hat in the stores, only online. Hmm... So I perused the Monster's, Inc. merchandise and picked up a little Boo plush instead.

I wandered the other stores in the mall picking up some shirts for my husband and a little something for myself, and in my wandering I realized that I could make a Boo hat pretty easily if I could just find a hat to begin with. I went in search of a little purple cap and found one in the Children's Place that would work pretty well, and also ended up stumbling onto a purple outfit on clearance that would go great with it, so I picked that up too. I brought all the goodies home and then spent a few minutes giving the hat a monstery makeover.

The kids and I took our baby goodies over to the nearest hospital. We told the woman at the information desk that we were there doing a random act of kindness and wanted to leave this for a random little girl who was under 6 months. She smiled sadly and said that was sweet, but they don't have children at their hospital - they send them all down to the Children's Hospital in Portland. I asked if they ever get infants coming into their emergency room. She brightened and said, "Yes! All the time!" and pointed us in the direction of the ER. As we were walking away she told the kids what a wonderful thing she thought it was that they were doing. We made our way to the ER and gave the bag of goodies to the Admitting desk, and told the lady there our story. She smiled and said "thank you" and that she would keep it there at her desk until she found a baby girl for whom it would be great.

The whole lot of monstery goodies could definitely be classified as "silly" so I think that it would have pleased the sweet and giving "Silly Caroline."

----
I always leave quotes about kindness at the end of my AoK - today's is something that I heard on the big TV at the Disney Store while shopping today. It seemed fitting and it gave me chills and I had to share it:

"I am a Princess.
I am brave sometimes. I am scared sometimes. Sometimes, I am brave even when I am scared.
I believe in best friends. And new friends. But mostly I believe in helping my friends.
I am a Princess.
I think having big dreams is important. I think having a big heart is more important.
I believe being gentle makes me strong.
Kindness is power.
And family means everything to me.
I have heard I am beautiful. I know I am strong.
I am a Princess.
Long may I reign."
- Disney Jr.