A dose of goodness and sweetness to lift you up

[Amaryllis]

I live in an apartment community built around a park-like courtyard three blocks long with no streets going through it. It’s very private and secure because you can only access the courtyard through the apartments around the perimeter. There are some families and kids living here and the kids can run free within the courtyard. I’ve only been here six months and have been getting to know the kids and like them.

I was walking in the courtyard and encountered three of the little girls who live in the apartments, ages 6, 7 and 8. They showed me a small dead bird that they’d found and said they wanted to bury it and were looking for a good place. I said, “You could have a funeral for it after you bury it.” They told me they were planning to do that.

I left them looking for a suitable place to bury the bird while I continued on my walk. On my way back, they showed me the place they had found to bury the bird and said they were going to have the funeral now. They seemed to be including me. They were very reverent as they all stood in a circle. The first one said to the bird, “We didn’t know you, but we hope you had a good life.” They each said a few words, and then each said, “Rest in peace.”
I said, “That was a lovely ceremony.” I felt honored to be included in this special and moving moment.

What struck me is how they recognized that the little bird’s life had value and meaning and were acknowledging and honoring that. And their wish for the bird was that it had "a good life." Every time I think about this experience, I feel uplifted. I decided to share the sweetness and goodness with you all in hopes that you too will feel uplifted.

[Raven]

1. This made me cry.

[Amaryllis]

2. Made me cry when it happened! Such sweet little girls.

[Raven]

3. Somebody's raising them right.

[JoseBalow]

10. A relative of yours?

[Duppers]

11. Same here.

[calimary]

4. Thanks so much for this sweet little story, Amaryllis.

It’s so encouraging and uplifting, and it’s so nice of you to share it.

We’re gonna have such unbearably shitty news starting to pelt us like an ongoing hailstorm, with that orange guy moving back into the White House next month. We’re gonna need lots of doses of goodness and sweetness to help counterbalance the next four dreadful years we face.

[Amaryllis]

5. I am going to make a particular effort to find uplifting things to post.

[calimary]

6. GOOD. We're gonna need lots more of these uplifting stories to get through the next four years.

[ancianita]

16. Thank you for this, and glad to hear you'll post more, especially if children are in them.

All humans love children's innocence, hearts, humility, curiosity, and wonder, even when children are sad or hurt.

[Duppers]

12. Indeed.

[Karadeniz]

7. Great parenting !!!! Very uplifting !!!!

[surfered]

8. There's hope. They deserve a better world than we're leaving them.

[LoisB]

9. What sweet little girls. Kudos to you for participating and not just dismissing them as "silly children". I hope

their hearts stay that pure for a long, long time.

[Figarosmom]

13. That is special

I always hope a life of any species was well lived, happy and rich with dignity. These girls certainly learned the right lessons about live. And so did you to allow the time to take the kids seriously. Many would have told them to leave them alone or don't bother me.

[niyad]

14. Damned onions!!! Seriously, thank you so very much for sharing this

beautiful, heartwarming moment with us. Blessings to those gentle, lovely children, and to you, in whom they recognized a kindred soul.

[nuxvomica]

15. The bliss of innocence

As adults, we all seek it, but some have been misdirected into thinking it can be found in the obliviousness of drugs or drink, or heightened personal security through weaponry or wealth, but the true path is to cultivate honesty, wonder and playfulness, which nurture and preserve the innocent, who will reward you by sharing that bliss in sometimes unexpected ways, like an invitation to the funeral of a fallen bird. Such rewards are priceless.

[malaise]

17. What a beautiful OP

Rec

[mtngirl47]

18. Smiling! It reminded me of something my son wrote when he was around 12

He had to write a paper about what he did over the school break. He chose to write about a hiking trip where he found an elk skull.

He wrote that he "hoped the elk died of natural causes."

Kids are great! 25 years later he still has the skull in a rock garden in his yard.

[Meowmee]

19. That is wonderful, brought a tear to my eyes 🤗

[Danmel]

20. Thanks for sharing this sweet story

There is good in the world. We're going to have to find it and celebrate it.

[Amaryllis]

21. We need to go out of our way to look for it and celebrate it. So we dont sink in the swamp of the scary negative stuff.

it is easy to forget and overlook the positive if we don't make a point to notice it.

[Jacson6]

22. When I was 8 years old.

A couple of kids found a deceased Cat. A bunch of us had a funeral to bury it. I was being the good Catholic child to bless the grave. Many children learn to respect life in their early years.

[Clouds Passing]

23. A touching moment of humanity.

[BattleRow]

25. Yes,an exquisite example of that which elevates us above the beasts of the field.

The little bird's life was not lived in vain,as it provided an opportunity for the power of hope and kindness to manifest.

[Clouds Passing]

26. There is still much sweetness and goodness in the world, your new friends and yourself are living proof

[Ilsa]

24. Thank you. That was very uplifting. nt

[bluboid]

27. very very sweet! thank you.

[proud patriot]

28. pass the tissue

beautiful

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

29. awwwww

[Aussie105]

30. Childhood innocence is something to be protected at all costs.

It soon evaporates in the static that is the real world.

Once gone, it does not return.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

31. Thanks for sharing. We needed that on a cold, dreary day.

Sounds like you've made some great new friends!

KY.........

[Dem4life1970]

32. Thank you...

💙

[iluvtennis]

33. Such a sweet story 😍. n/t

[Texin]

34. Thank you for sharing that. It made me tear up.

It's wonderful to realize that children have the capability and innocence to care so deeply. It's tragic that so many - I suppose most of us - lose that quality of innocence and compassion as we are barraged with what life throws on us as we mature and face so many challenges and ugliness around us. I certainly see how calloused and unfeeling some people become and how they have been indoctrinated to intolerance and hatred of "the other" (whatever 'other' they've been convinced are to be relegated as worthless and to be purged from their lives and the world in general).