Sweet kindness

There are little moments that can actually be so enormous it's hard to remember how brief they were.

At the visitation for my dad Seth did something so enormously small that I still think about it every single day. I wasn't going to share this gesture with the world. I was going to keep it tucked away in my beautiful memories within an ugly time section of my brain. However, such gestures almost always pay themselves forward don't they?

The father's day after Lila turned one I got Seth a keychain from a little shop on Etsy. It was silver with a very small black and white picture of Lila on her first birthday. It also had a silver tag that said "daddy". Buying gifts for Seth can be more than difficult. This was a very simple gift that I had hoped would mean a lot.

This past father's day after Evie turned one and Lila turned three I got him a new keychain from the same shop.
In the midst of the ugly storm at the visitation Seth told me he wanted the keychain to be buried with my dad. You can imagine my heart breaking right? My dad adored Seth. I mean, who doesn't? My dad also adored my girls. If in that instant I could have snapped my fingers so that the tag read "poppy" I would have. But, it doesn't matter. What matters is the enormity of doing something so small. Seth created a bright spot in a dark place that will never diminish for me.

A few weeks ago I messaged the Etsy shop owner asking if I could purchase a new one. I just needed Seth to have his own. I felt weird just asking Dana of TooTooPosh to make the exact same keychain she made a few short months ago. I didn't want her to think we went around losing things (even though we often do!). I didn't want a hand out either. That was not my intention. More than anything I wanted her to know about the immense moment that went along with her creation. However, Dana paid it forward and sent Seth a new keychain free of charge.

I don't know her. She doesn't know me. There is something so perfect to me about Etsy. You buy from real people creating real things that can mean so much even if they never know it. Thank you, Dana. You did a very kind thing and I applaud you for it.