Sometimes a simple good deed can change everything.About a month ago, someone turned in a lost driver’s license to our volunteers at the information desk. Volunteer Missie Good called the owner, Jamie Fairbairn, who was understandably relieved to hear it had been found.
“I’ve been crying all night,” Jamie told Missie on the phone.
Jamie explained that her daughter, Shelby, was graduating from basic training in Oklahoma the following week, but the DMV had told her a replacement license wouldn’t arrive in time for the trip.
Without it, she wouldn’t have been allowed on base for the ceremony.
When Missie shared the story with us, she got a little choked up, and so did we.
Here’s a photo of Missie and Jamie with the recovered license. Jamie’s daughter graduated last week, and thanks to a kind stranger, Jamie was there to see it.
It’s a reminder that acts of kindness can’t really be measured. You never know what impact a small gesture might have in someone’s life. In this case, a patient or visitor turned in a lost license, a mom avoided heartbreak, and the rest of us got to witness it.
Our volunteers tell us this is what makes their work so meaningful.
“We get to see or be part of moments like this all the time,” said Kelly Stark, who volunteers weekly at the information desk. “Aren’t we lucky?”
Congratulations to PFC Shelby Fairbairn on her graduation, and happy Veterans Day to all who serve — and to the families who support them.
Courtesy Bates County Memorial Hospital
