I have always believed that small gestures make huge impacts.

Recently I have been on the go, way more than usual. Friends and family have been coming to town, we’ve hosted work events, Christmas parties, etc. You know, normal holiday month stuff.

After a particularly long day, I was hauling in groceries and slipping and sliding across my driveway. Somehow my 9 month old puppy had gotten out and was running circles around me, all the while I was screaming at her to not run into the busy street… Needless to say, I more than likely looked like a crazy person with Albertsons bags breaking all around me. After my last trip to the car, our neighbor who lives across the street, whom I have never met, (their garage faces us) walked over and started shoveling our driveway!

He goes, “Looks like you’re pretty buried over here! Let me help out.”

I think I looked at him the way a toddler looks at a donut.

Even though I’m 26 and haven’t lived at home in almost seven years, or even close to my hometown, I still miss how much work and  dedication went into keeping a house up. You forget, when you work, try to make time for friends, family, hit the gym and travel just how hard it is to do those simple tasks that always seemed to be done at mom and dads..

Mom, dad, how did you do this? Where did you find the time?

The next day I got up early, went to Dutch Bros and grabbed a coffee card and thermos for my new best friend, aka, my neighbor, who I have yet to know his name.

I wrote down a little note saying, “thanks for shoveling, I’d had a pretty rough and long day and your kind gesture really turned it around. Get a coffee on us and keep it warm with this snowflake thermos!”

After I got home from work, I was greeted with a note… “Thanks for the coffee! If we would have known shoveling came with drinks, we would have also raked your leaves! Cheers, your pen pal neighbors.”

Guys… I laughed way too hard.

I completely love how small gestures, even from strangers, can turn into an entire week of funny notes and a lifetime neighbor pen pal. I hope everyone who reads this thinks of something kind to do, you never know the friends you could potentially make.