Wow, yet another great thread, Jerry. I'm enjoying all the little stories you have.

My neighbor Kathy is one of the best people I know. She is an elementary school counselor, which can be a thankless job when the adults get involved, but she's made a huge positive impact on so many of the kids that go through her school system. She is one of those kind of people who are forever doing good things for others without any thought involved of what's in it for her. She's on automatic pilot, I think. We'd lived across the street from each other for about a year and a half before we really said more than two words to each other. The icebreaker was her new dog, Joey. He and my dog Clancy started playing together and Kathy's and my friendship took off from there. We'd only been friends for a couple of months when there was a knock at my apartment door. When I opened the door, there was Kathy. She handed me an Easter basket, said "Easter Bunny!" and went turned around and went home, leaving me with my mouth wide open. Just because she wanted to do something nice. She's like that.

Recently, I've had a chance to repay some of her kindness and generosity of the past several years. Last month, she took a nasty fall down a flight of stairs and shattered both the fibula and tibia in one leg. I've been doing doggie duty, running errands, etc. This has given many of us the opportunity to repay her in some way for all the good she's done for us through the years, but she's been depressed about being dependant on other people. I finally told her that she just needs to cash in a few of those karma points that she's built up over her lifetime. It hasn't helped a whole lot,but at least she's a little more willing to let people know when she needs help.