Small Acts of Kindness
I never knew her name. I didn’t even realize she was in my class until we stood outside the classroom doors, waiting to enter for our final exam. I don’t even remember now what she looks like, although I want to say she had her dark hair pulled up in a bun and wore glasses. All I remember was that she gave me a mechanical pencil. It was the end of the fall semester of my senior year. I was in a lot of pain from Lyme Disease that day. I’d just come from an internship meeting which had soured before it began. I was doing all I could to keep it together. I’d been so focused on the meeting before that I’d forgotten to bring any pencils with me. And when I saw the few girls studying outside the classroom doors, I realized my mistake. But it was too late to go back and get a pencil. So I asked if I could borrow one. The girls looked at each other, and one of them finally checked the lead in her mechanical pencils, and offered me one. I thanked her, tol