There are many types of kindness, such as treating others with compassion, serving others selflessly, or showing empathy to those around you. Acts of kindness can benefit both the giver and the receiver by improving mental health and emotional well-being, and they can inspire other acts of kindness.
With a positive mindset, you can see acts of kindness around you every day! This kindness might include helping someone take in groceries, leaving a thoughtful note, or offering a friend a ride. It could also be caring for the sick, or comforting someone in a time of need.
There is power in acts of kindness! This Christmas season, we want to invite people around the world to be kind. To help illuminate this invitation, FamilySearch users have graciously contributed stories of kindness from their own family trees.
A Doctor’s Generosity
My grandfather, Thomas Brigham Smith, was a friend of Dr. Openshaw when he lived in Santaquin. My grandfather was a carpenter and did some work on Dr. Openshaw's house and office. When my Aunt Wilma Deane was born, my grandfather built the doctor an operating table to pay for the delivery.
During the Great Depression, my grandfather lost his farm and had trouble providing for his young family. Eventually, he was able to buy a small city lot. He moved his family into a tent on that lot and proceeded to plant a garden and orchard. He made plans to construct a basement house, but as the end of summer approached, he was worried about what his wife and children would do when cold weather came.
One day, Dr. Openshaw approached him and said, "Thomas, just about everybody in this town owes me money. When you get ready to dig your basement and pour the cement, let me know, and I will make sure you have the help you need."
On the appointed day, a large number of men came to work off their debts to Dr. Openshaw, completing the work in a very short time. Thanks to Dr. Openshaw, my grandfather had a snug winter home for his family.
Love Served Warm
My childhood home was filled with memories of unexpected guests on pretty much any day of the week. This was predominantly because of the renowned hospitable nature of my mother, Anna Jean Michelli. Mom was the epitome of kindness. She was a master storyteller, host, and chef.
Her love language was food, her stage was her kitchen, and her secret sauce was her warm, inviting disposition. She never minded unannounced guests any night, or any day, of the week. She seemed to intuitively anticipate the company. She always cooked for 2–3 times the capacity of our family, which became common knowledge among family, friends, and friends of friends of friends. No one ever knocked before entering our home; they innately knew the door was always open and they were always welcome.
Mom rarely stopped to sit and visit. Instead, while she bustled around the kitchen in her apron, she visited with her guests who sat around the oversized kitchen bar and in the overflow space of the adjacent living room.
She was popular with young and old and all persuasions of people. As Mom stirred up a family culinary favorite, she entertained with endless jokes and funny stories and would inquire about the guests' welfare. When needed, she offered encouraging support, amazing hugs, loving smiles, healing laughter, leftovers to go, and the undoubtedly palpable feeling that you were welcome back anytime, without invitation. The door to her kitchen and heart were always open.
My mother’s kind example had a profound influence on me. As a child, I learned that everyone was important and welcome. No time required to serve another or host a visitor—announced or unannounced—was an inconvenience. Mom’s unspoken motto was "Prepare for the unexpected guest, listen, help in their times of need, always be accommodating, and remember that food is the universal language.”
Rescue on the Plains
On 19 December 1894, Benjamin Housley married Clarissa Pauline Allen. Their fathers, George Frederick Housley and Marshall Franklin Allen became close friends. Several years later, the two fathers were at Benjamin and Clarissa’s home in Utah.
They began reminiscing over old times, and Marshall Allen told of the time when he and several other young men were asked to go out and deliver provisions and assistance to the Martin Handcart Company (a group of pioneers using handcarts to cross the midwestern United States).
Marshall recalls kneeling in prayer on the evening before their departure and telling God it was a foolish thing to do, going out in such weather and with no roads to follow. While he was still on his knees in the act of prayer, he felt directed to go and that he would be able to save many of their lives.
During the long search, the rescue party became discouraged. Thinking that the handcart company had been lost on the plains, many wanted to return home, but not Marshall. "I told them I would go 'til I reached the States, but that I would find them!"
About noon, they found a group of handcarts with their poor, starving people. Thinking there might be more stragglers farther back, Marshall rode on for some distance. Suddenly, he saw a dark spot among some rocks. Upon investigating, he found it to be a young man. He wrapped his blanket around the young man and helped him onto the horse.
At this point in the story, George Housley spoke up and said, "The horse had one white leg, a white stripe on its forehead, and the rest of it was coal black."
Marshall said, "Yes."
"It was a bright plaid blanket," George added.
"How did you know?” Marshall asked.
George responded excitedly, "Because I was the one you found!" He went on to tell how he had just lost his best friend in the handcart company and had been very discouraged. George had lost all hope until he was saved by the determination of the young Marshall Franklin Allen.
"I want to tell you, if it hadn’t been for the prayers of my mother and the faith of the Saints, I would not have lived 'til you found me, and I never would have reached the Valley." Acts of kindness can have long-term impacts, even years after the act occurs!
**Content Warning: The following stories are about ancestors helping others during the death of a relative. Those who shared these stories felt they were inspiring acts of kindness. We understand, however, that some readers may want to avoid reading about these heavier topics. Click here to skip this section, if desired.
A Gentle Goodbye
My father chose mortuary sciences as his career. Many times, he was asked, “Why would anyone want to be a mortician?” He usually responded with a quick answer of something like, “Because people are always dying to see you!”
Those who knew my father and his gentle, loving spirit believe his work was his life calling. He considered it a privilege to be of service to families during their most vulnerable time.
Sometimes, a death from natural causes would occur in the presence of the family. When this happened, workers from the funeral home would arrive and place the body of the departed family member in the back of the hearse.
The hearse would then be driven to the mortuary to prepare the body for burial. It was not unusual for my father to leave our home in the middle of the night when such a call came.
One particular evening, he was called to the home of some family friends who had lost their toddler. As you can imagine, they were beside themselves with grief. They accompanied my father out into the dark night to watch their daughter be taken away.
Wanting to offer comfort to this family, instead of placing the child’s body alone in the large, empty hearse, my father gently placed her in the front seat with him. The mother of this family was so grateful for the small act of kindness my father showed in honoring her daughter.
A Caring Mother
My nana, Sally Louise Crane, is the mother of seven children. As a new mom, she was blessed with the presence of her own mother, Ruth Amelia May, who traveled from Idaho to Utah to help her daughter in any way needed.
Laundry was folded, meals were provided, and Ruth was up at night with the baby so Sally could catch up on rest. The two even shopped together to find the outfit the baby would be blessed in. Anything my nana needed, her mother helped take care of it.
Ruth didn’t stop helping after the first baby; each time Sally gave birth, Ruth traveled down in her car to help get everything taken care of. “And she did it all so happily,” Sally said.
Ruth continued to give up her time and miss events she was involved in for about a week each time her daughter had a new baby, as if there were nothing else in the world she could possibly be doing. The house was cleaned, other children were taken care of, all of it.
Five and a half months into Sally’s last pregnancy, she had a complication. She ended up giving birth early to her seventh baby, who was stillborn. The unexpected news came to Ruth while she was on vacation with her husband. Upon receiving the phone call of the birth and death of the baby, Ruth and her husband cut their vacation short and traveled to be with their daughter, this time to plan a funeral.
Years later, Sally followed her mother’s example and visit each of her children every time a grandchild was born. She offered her children the same support Ruth had given her. Laundry was folded, meals were provided, and Sally was up at night with each new baby so the new mom could catch up on rest.
Until Sally began happily helping her own children, she hadn’t realized what a sacrifice Ruth had made in helping her. “She made it seem like it was nothing. Now I see what a kind act it was.”
Threads of Compassion
My Swedish great-grandmother, Charlotte Johanson Nielsen, served as a leader for a local branch of a women's relief organization for 32 years. Her husband, Rasmus, owned a mercantile and grocery store.
Charlotte, who had very little formal education, helped out at the store because she learned to speak fluent English, clerked, and kept accounts. She often took food from the store to the needy and sick during her relief service.
Charlotte asked Elizabeth Jane Russell Day, another of my ancestors, to serve with her in the leadership of the relief organization. Elizabeth and her husband had welcomed four children into their home when tragedy struck in the form of a diphtheria epidemic in 1890.
Within two weeks, three of the young children had passed away with this disease. Charlotte “made beautiful little white clothes for them, and little caskets were made and lined beautifully with lace and ribbons.” Charlotte showed true compassion and kindness in a difficult and trying time for the Day family.
Your Kindness Stories
Thanks to FamilySearch Memories, you can easily find stories of kindness within your own family history! Memories lets you read, watch, or listen to stories other people have created about an ancestor. You can also write down stories of kindness by asking a living relative to recall examples of kindness from the past. Consider recording your own experiences of kindness for posterity.
To get more into the Christmas season and in the spirit of kindness, check out the Light the World campaign from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Try out the Kindness Randomizer, or download 50 ideas on how you can light the world this year. Take inspiration from your ancestors and these 6 stories of kindness to be an angel in someone’s life!
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