When I was in high school, I went through a rough time and at one point I had to leave my home and move into live with another family. I wanted to keep my situation as private as possible, and continued to display myself as a typical girl that was just like everyone else. I worked hard to keep up with my school work and my regular routines.

There was one aspect of my life that was the most important for me to keep. I had this mothers helper/babysitting job by a kind and loving family that I had started at the beginning of that year.. I was treated with care and respect by the parents and kids and it really helped me deal with the challenges I was experiencing in my own home.

I remember two days after I moved out I was scheduled to babysit for that family. I recall being very emotionally drained, tired, and hurting, but I felt that it was healthy for me to continue my babysitting job because of the familiarity it gave me after the significant change I went through. Before going I made sure looked put together and unwearied so that no one would be able to pick up on any changes that were happening in my personal life. I think it is important to add that it was a regular mothers helper job with specific tasks and less fluffiness. When I would come to the house the mothers hands were full and I put myself into my job right away.

That day at my job everything was the same as usual. When I came in the mothers hands were full and I jumped right in and started helping out. As I was preparing the kids for bed, I saw her take out a large nice cup with a straw and prepare an ice coffee, making sure it was just right.

Holding her new born baby in her hands she came over to me while I was sitting with the kids. She handed the ice coffee to me, at first without any words and then briefly added that I looked a bit tired. Since it was during midterms she thought I might appreciate an ice coffee so I would be able to study later that evening.

Till this day, based on other details I am certain she had no idea that I moved out of my home two nights before I came to her. What she did for me touched me in a really deep way. I was trying so hard to keep my personal life hidden from the people around me and yet she paid attention to something so simple – preparing me an ice coffee to help me study, considering it as a small act of kindness. Yet, for me that coffee did much more than what she had intended. It gave me the feeling that people were looking out for me and I wasn’t alone. It gave me that love I desperately needed at that time.

She intended for that ice coffee to last for one night. However, till this day, she does not know that the ice coffee continues to warm my heart. I am currently a teacher, who teaches out of the love that was given to me by all those people who helped me during my difficult times and from that mother who gave it to me that night.

There is one message I want to give over in honor of Yocheved Gourarie A”H. It’s that an act of kindness may be done with a specific intention in mind however we might never know how much farther it can actually go for that other person and the ripple effects it can have.