In addition to keeping my sisters fed and alive, and the apartment intact and clean, Mom gave me two hard and fast rules: never let anyone inside the apartment and never, EVER, leave the apartment. On one fateful day, I broke both those rules. Somehow in the midst of playing with Sheesh, we managed to knock the TV off its stand. We’re talking a vintage 1960-something television set that probably weighed fifty or sixty pounds. I have no recollection of how it fell, or how no one got hurt, but I remember thinking two things instantly: 1) We were never going to get that thing back up on the stand by ourselves and 2) if Ma came home and found that TV lying on the floor, someone was going to die.

So, I did what any responsible five-year-old would do: I picked up my baby sister, took my toddler sister firmly by the hand, and left the apartment. Walking door to door, we knocked on every apartment and I asked if the person who answered the door would help us get the TV back onto its stand. Most doors went unanswered, but I think you’d be shocked at how many people actually refused. Actually took one look at me and my adorable little sisters and slammed the door in our faces. I don’t remember how many now, but I know I was getting desperate and crying when a kindly old man near the end of our hall took pity on us and followed us into our apartment.

He righted the set and told us to be more careful, and then left. I don’t recall ever seeing that man again. I never learned his name. I know my mother never found out, so he never tattled.  I always think of that old man as a guardian angel in human skin.  It’s probably also one of the reasons why the idea of being kind means so much to me. Like the others who closed their door on our faces, he didn’t have to help us. He could have taken advantage of that situation in a very ugly way. But he didn’t.  He was simply a good neighbor. And that has stayed with me for fifty-three years.

So remember: In a world where you can be anything, be kind. You never know what kind of impact it might have on someone.