Photo credit: Kalexanderson via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

In another area of my life, I curate news about #kindness and #generosity for @notevery1sucks. Recently I came across this Random Act of Kindness with a birthday link. It’s sweet enough to share:

Widower 82-year-old Dan Peterson was in the grocery store six months after the death of his wife when a four-year-old girl named Norah approached him. The girl’s mother told CBS that the little one tapped Dan, a stranger, on the shoulder and blithely announced: “Hi, old person. It’s my birthday today.” She then promptly demanded a hug.

Dan happily complied, and Norah then asked her mother to take her picture with her new friend. Dan was moved and says he told her, “This is the first time, for quite a while, that I’ve been this happy.” To this day Norah visits Dan once a week.

This is a lovely example of how easy it is to bring happiness to others with a small connection. What if we all took a page from the book of a four-year-old and made more of an effort to make people feel loved?

Of course, we can’t all demand hugs on our birthday — it’s not socially acceptable and after a certain age is no longer cute — but this is an extension of the idea of doing kindness for others on your own special day.

Birthdays are about making each individual feel special — even if you are taking the opportunity to treat yourself better for that one day. It’s almost as if Norah read my post, Birthday Kindness Pass It On . Those feeling generous on their special day might also get some ideas from Donating a Birthday.