The Sweetest Thank You

I have a new friend.  Her name is Lorraine.

I’m pretty terrible at ages so I don’t want to guess her age I just know she is definitely older than my parents and has seven grown children and some grandchildren.  I don’t want to go so far as to say she is old enough to be my grandma because I don’t think she is, but she is so grandmotherly that I just love to be around her.  I met her when she attended a class I taught on Descendancy Research a few weeks ago.  Since my class, I have worked with her twice during my shift at my local FamilySearch Center.  She is the sweetest person I have ever met.

Thursday night I helped her again and as we were logging out of our programs and gathering our things she says to me, “Oh, I meant to ask, do you happen to like apple crisp?”  To which I responded, “Yes!” immediately.  She smiled and said, “Oh good, because I baked one for you today and it’s in my car.  Would you mind going out to my car so I can give that to you?”

I was so surprised and grateful for her kindness.  She went on to express how grateful she was for my help.  She has shared with me that she never thought she would find an area in her tree that needed work.  But of course we found a spot that hasn’t been worked on in Family Tree and she is so excited to be able to contribute to her family’s story.  She is working hard to learn how to search for sources and attach them.  How to draw accurate conclusions and add missing family members to the tree.  I’m grateful that I have gotten to spend time helping her.  Honestly, helping people is so rewarding and I never feel like I need a thank you, but her thank you was so thoughtful that it really made my night, in fact, it made my week.

Now I think I need to pay it forward.