Year Of Focus: Week 49 With

Memory is the diary we all carry about with us ~Oscar Wilde

The Year of Focus: Week 49

Word of The Week: With

in some particular relation to (especially implying interaction, company, association, conjunction, or connection)

Every year in December, especially on December 7^th we scatter joy with acts of kindness in memory of Ryan’s birthday. Often our acts are anonymous, as we quietly slip in and pay for a meal, cake, coffee, etc. 

I began paying for cakes at a local bakery after a friend gave me the idea by doing it in Ryan’s memory one year. This powerful act reminded me of the many ways we could honor Ryan each year. Since then, I visit the same bakery and pay for a cake that will be picked up on December 7^th.  

Most times I experience the joy of the employees I work with as we decide which cake. Sometimes we cry together and sometimes we giggle with anticipation, but every year, as soon as I begin explaining why I am there, they know the story or remember Ryan.

Sometimes I never hear about who picked up the cake, some leave cards at the bakery for whenever I return and sometimes the stories are shared years later by a chance connection when I meet up with different employees.

I love this tradition and with each small act of kindness we continue to keep his memory alive.