My daughter and I were having lunch at a small but popular Indonesian cafe.  My daughter noticed that 3 people entered, but seeing there were no tables large enough available, they started to leave.  My daughter and I had been seated at a table for 4, so we motioned to the people to take our table and we moved to a table for two.  The people were surprised but happy - I guess the restaurant owners probably were too!

This is a DOUBLE ROAK!
First Roak: a former quartet member of California One (a quartet my dad sang in for ten years) took the time to write a very nice letter about our dad and sent along copies of a sketch he had made of Jim all suited up for a bike ride. It was especially nice because it arrived on my birthday. Thank you Rene'! But how did it get delivered with the incorrect street number 17 shown in the address?

Second Roak: The letter and sketches were misdelivered to an address four blocks away on a street where there was a number 17.  The customs tag on Rene's envelope specified "sketches done by sender and a sympathy letter" so the resident of #17 felt compelled to find the correct recipient. She tried the internet but came up empty because the envelope was addressed to my maiden name. She went on foot and canvassed the neighborhood for anyone on the correct street who might know a Kathleen Saunders. A few people knew of a home where a Kathleen lived and so she delivered the envelope there. Then she used reverse directory to get the phone number and called to alert the residents of #14 about the envelope. Happy ending!

That is exactly the kind of thing Jim would have done in the same determined fashion until he had made things right.

As I was leaving CVS in Half Moon Bay, I saw a small, elderly woman whose car was parked in a handicapped spot outside the drugstore.  She had only one item in her cart, a carton of 7-Up.

 

I put it in her car for her and suddenly thought of Jim (coincidentally, this happened in August, the month of his birth).

 

The carton was a lot heavier than I expected and I was happy that I did it.

 

Peg Nordensten

This is about a ROAK that is still appreciated five years later! A former student of mine from Saudi Arabia returned recently to thank me for bringing her a cup of honey-lemon-ginger tea to class when she had a cold. Five years later she still remembers it and continues passing the kindness on to others.

A blonde straight-haired Dutch woman at my work was at a loss to manage the mostly African hair of her two-year-old daughter. She believed people were standing in judgement and looking askance at her because of the apparent lack of effort made to do something with the wild hair. I brought her samples of the three products I use to tame my own thick curly locks and the full set of instructions I received from my salon which posts in their window, "Love What Your Mama Gave You." (In my case it was my father) A few days later She happily showed me pictures of her daughter's beautifully enhanced curls!

I hung my laundry on the line in the morning and meant to get back mid day to take it off the line. However, I got caught up in the day and couldn't get home until after 10pm.  When I got home I found all my laundry folded neatly and stacked on the back porch.

My daughter and I had separate plans for this morning, but only one car.  So my daughter dropped me at the high school to play tennis and took my car so she could go running on the coastal trail.  When she picked me up just before noon, she surprised me with my favorite kale salad that she had just bought from a local store.  I was very happy about the salad and her thoughtfulness.