Acts of Kindness

  

I was so fortunate to be the recipient of a tremendous act of kindness.  The way it came about is sort of a long story… 

I attended a Jennings family reunion back in 2007 that  focused on the life of William Jennings the brother of my great-grandmother Sarah Jennings.  At this reunion I met many distant relatives including  Merrill Raber and Stan Brunk, two of William Jennings's grandsons.  They have written extensively about the Jennings family so I thought they would enjoy a blog post I wrote about a crazy quilt made by my great-grandmother Sarah Jennings.  They did enjoy the post and I enjoyed talking with them about family. Stan asked me about my great-grandfather Oliver Houston Herrell (husband of Sarah) being a woodworker.  Well, it turns out that Stan had two tables given to his mother Ann Jennings that were made by my great-grandfather Oliver Houston.  Stan lives in Colorado and said he thought they belonged with the Herrell’s in Tennessee.   He offered to ship them to me and insisted on paying for the shipping himself!  I couldn’t believe my fortune.  Not only the fortune of receiving family heirlooms but also being reminded of the goodness in people when the news constantly highlights the bad.  

Well, the first one arrived today and I just love it.  It is walnut as were many of the pieces Oliver made.  It is just the right size for a small coffee table in my living room.  Odd, I didn’t have a coffee table because I had been looking for years for a small, antique one.  I guess it was fate (and one very kind relative :-)   THANK YOU STAN! and I will take good care of it.

"How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world.” ― William Shakespeare