I was walking out of work to my car at the end of the day.

As I was walking through the parking lot, I look over about 25 feet away and there was a poor old man in a wheelchair, alone, wheeling himself down the sidewalk, WITH ONLY HIS LEGS. I guess he doesn't have enough arm strength to push the wheels with his arms, I was kind of far away and all I could make out was him swinging his legs out to catch the ground and pulling himself along with his legs. It was honestly heartbreaking.

But being as how I had just gotten off work and am usually a ball-of-stress at this time of the day, all I could think was, "Man, some people really have it rough." It never crossed my mind to help this poor man.

Fast forward a couple minutes, I just get in my truck and am driving through the parking lot toward that sidewalk, and I see a car speed into the parking lot next to me and park right away. As I'm pulling out onto the street, the driver gets out and quickly runs a block down the sidewalk and goes up to the old man and start pushing him where ever he needed to go. I watched it happen as I drove by.

It was honestly the most genuine act of kindness I've seen in a long time. And it bothers me that I was so wrapped up in my own stress and work that it never even remotely crossed my mind at the time. I wish I could let that kind soul how amazing of a person they are.

In my small town, there is an older guy on my way home from work who wears the biggest smile and stands on his porch while waving to all the traffic. I always wave back. The sad thing is he lives in a super rough area, and kids and teenagers regularly make fun of him and tease him while shouting slurs at him. He just smiles through all this, and one time I honked at him while waving and the next day he came up to my car when I was at a stoplight and gave me flowers. I always honk and wave on my way home from work.

I used to work as a dishwasher at a retirement home and every Sunday, no matter how much snow was on the ground, how hot it was, or how busy he was, this sweet old man would go outside and refill his wife's bird feeder so she could watch them from the window of their room.

I have bipolar disorder. Sometimes it can get scary. One day, I flew into a rage over nothing. I was SCREAMING as loud as I could and punching pillows (I'm responsible!) and my dog (who is NOT a trained therapy dog) came over to me with his head bent low, laid in my lap, and kissed me until I calmed down. He is my angel.

My dad, who's generally pretty reserved and serious, has a huge soft spot for my dog. I hear him talking to her all the time when he thinks no one's listening. My favorite is when it storms and my dog gets all scared and upset, my dad comforts her by saying, "Oh it's okay woofers, it's just a little dibble dops." Makes me melt.

Was headed to Oakland from San Francisco through the tube. Train's packed as always. People on BART are good about public transit etiquette in general during commute hours so nobody's talking or listening to music or anything.

When we leave the tube onto the viaduct over the Port, one guy answers his phone.

"Hello?... Yeah?... Oh my God... What hospital?... Okay I'll be there as soon as I can."

He hangs up and just looks super distraught.

Someone taps him on the shoulder and says "My car is parked at West Oakland. Do you need a ride?"

He agrees and they get off together.

Little gesture but it was uplifting to see someone volunteer for a stranger like that.

I had a teacher in high school who had a reputation as being the super tough/mean, older African American lady. She taught health class. There was a mandatory CPR class that we had to pay for, and there was no way I could pay for anything in those days.  CPR day came, and she told me to go with the other students. I gave her a confused look to which she replied, “You’re good, baby.” And she had paid for me.

Later in the year, I fell asleep in her class. It was a home game day (basketball), and she told me to lay back down after the bell had rung. It was the last period of the day, she told me she’d wake me up before I had to report to the gym. She dimmed the lights, and played some light jazz while she did her work at the computer. I hadn’t been sleeping well at home and I’m guessing she knew.

I woke up when she brought the lights back up and she handed me one of her “cup of soups” she had warmed up. We never really spoke much, but she had my back and I made sure she knew I had hers.

THE MOST WHOLESOME: On senior night, they introduce the players and say some stuff about them as they walk to center court, typically with parents arm in arm. When it was almost my time to walk, she saw that I was alone. Bless her heart, she about fell down from her seat running towards me. She put her arm through mine and just looked forward, chin up as they read my stats/grades/etc. I remember that walk and how I wish I had a picture or recording from that day. My friends' mothers had tears in their eyes. They made sure to invite me to dinner with them after the game and I made sure it was okay that I brought my teacher. She politely declined and just told me she was proud of me.

After I had graduated, and was a bit better on my feet, I returned to visit her. It was honestly the only thing that could get me back in that place. Each time I’d bring flowers and/or food and made sure to do it in front of students and made sure they knew to respect her.

I was playing with my 6-year-old nephew and pretending to cry really dramatically, and I suddenly his 2-year-old brother yells "OH NO!" from the other room, comes running in repeating "oh no!" as he runs, and starts patting my cheeks and dabbing at my eyes with his shirt saying "you okay." Such a sweet kiddo.

A little boy at the airport kept trying to climb over a concrete divider that had active traffic on the other side. His mom was loaded with luggage and kept trying to stop him, but didn't have free hands.

My brother-in-law walked up and said, "Hey, kid. There's a rule here. You have to keep one foot on the ground at all times. Look around. Everyone has at least one foot on the ground."

The kid kept trying to climb, but with one foot firmly glued to the ground he wasn't in danger anymore. Such a creative and wholesome way to let the kid keep playing while keeping him safe!

A friend and I were talking and she said a curse word in front of the kid of another friend. I dismissed it by saying, "Eh, she probably knows worse." We asked what was the worse word she knows. She very carefully looked around just in case her parents were around and whispered "selfish."

I was on what I call a rumpled suit flight. One of those flights on a Friday at 6 from NY to DC where most of the flight consists of business people in suits drinking $14 double shots. A fellow rumpled suit sat across the aisle from me next to a mother and her kid. When she could the kid brought down her tray table and a coloring book and started coloring. I didn't hear what was said but at some point the kid handed the rumpled suit a coloring book and they spent the remainder of the flight coloring and chatting. I was kinda like, "I want to color too."

I have two nieces. At little one's birthday her friend gave her two unicorn toys. She immediately looks at big sis with a huge smile. "Look big sis! This one for you! We can both play!” She was genuinely so excited to play unicorns with her sister and it never even occurred to her that she didn’t need to give one to her. My heart grew three sizes that day.

I always get the shivers when I see a very dedicated parent. A few months ago I was on the train on my way to work, when a mother entered with her approximately 10-year-old daughter, who was in a wheelchair. The girl would do nothing but talk, ask questions and narrate everything she did, leaving almost no chance for anyone (her mother) to participate in the conversation. I felt bad for the child, because it seemed as it was impossible for her to keep a thought to herself, yet whatever she said ended up as a monologue.

Her mother had very calm, pleasant and patient vibes. Not once did she judge or interrupt her daughter while I was present. Whenever her daughter asked a question, she would answer it, not getting irritated by the fact that the girl would continue talking. Maybe she was listening after all. At times, the mother would encourage her daughter to elaborate certain thoughts and sometimes the girl did.

When I was, like, 11, dad was driving us to a gathering at my grandma’s.

There was a woman pulled over on the side of the road. Dad asked if they needed help. She said she’d run out of gas. Dad told her he would get some.

So we go into a gas station. Dad explains the situation to the cashier and is prepared to buy a can of gas. There’s this other customer that looks like a biker - big dude with tattoos and piercings - who tells Dad he has gas at his house and tells us to get in our cars and follow him.

His wife and young son were in the front yard. Turned out this was his sister’s house; the guy had fled a hurricane with his family. Nevertheless he insisted on giving us the gas for free.

Yesterday at work, my boss' five year old daughter was drawing a picture for me and said, "This is you, a princess!" And I thought my heart would burst because that was just so sweet.

She proceeded to make a little collection of drawings, which she folded into a book, and gave it to me. It was all hearts and rainbows. That was just absolutely wholesome and made me appreciate little kids.

Made my day to be honest!

When I first had foster children placed with me, after bedtime, my pit bull would go into each room and check on the kids and then sleep in the hallway. If any woke crying in the night, she would crawl into bed with them.

I gifted a used electric wheelchair to a family who couldn't afford one. The kid, maybe 14 years old, was kinda grumpy looking when he arrived, didn't say much. Once we got him in the chair and he was zooming around, he was all smiles; his mother was also super happy. I heard the next day he told his sister to clear off the driveway so he could practice with it, and by the weekend he had gone to a fair.

I had a nurse doing some care at the time. I got a new wheelchair, and was looking for somewhere to donate my old one. She mentioned this kid she knew and made the arrangements.

My oldest son, he was just getting to where he could sit up well and bend over sit back up all on his own. My wife was in the shower, I had him on the bed. I noticed he started pulling at a pillow so I pulled it over in front of him. He laid face down on it for a second. I thought, “Wow, he must be tired.” Just before I grabbed him, he sat back up and smiled the biggest gummy grin ever, then he did it again. and again!

Then it suddenly hit me, he’s playing peekaboo! So he did it another time and when he sat up I said peekaboo! He laughed and smiled.

I'm a fairly rigid guy who doesn't get emotional or worked up about much, but that broke me down and lifted my spirits all at the same time.

At a concert, I saw a buddy walking with his friend who was blind and also somewhat physically disabled. I overheard him telling his blind friend, “Oh man I was so smashed last night! I couldn’t walk or see nothing. Thank god for you and your cane. You were steering us everywhere like a champ. I would have been helpless without you!”

It was really so heartwarming and you could see how much it meant to his friend to be told how he was the helper, not the person being helped. I’m assuming he was being a little hyperbolic, but the amount of joy I saw brought to his friends face from his kind words was so heartwarming.

I was in the local supermarket doing my shopping. I was pushing my cart in the frozen food section when I came across a young woman in her 20s, I'm estimating. Her little girl (around 2 years old) was sitting in the cart she was pushing. She was beautifully cooing to her little girl, "I love you, I love you", among other sweet things and sounds.

Now, I never "met" this young lady. I never talked to her. Just watched her treat her daughter very sweetly with all the love in the world. It was the nicest thing to see and experience because my own upbringing was a living nightmare. My parents broke up when I was young, around 5-6 years old. Mother got custody of us kids and she was a mentally ill, abusive, psychotic monster. I never knew a scene like that in my own life. All I got from my mother is daily yelling, screaming, cursing, nagging, and hitting. On more than one occasion she told me to my face how she wished I was never born.

I just knew, with a kind, loving mother like that in her life, that little girl was going to grow up into a nice, normal, happy human being. Having a mother like that makes all the difference in the world.

One of the kids in my class was talking to one of our new kids. It came up in conversation that the new kid's shoes didn't fit and made his feet hurt. The boys also realized that they wear the same size shoes. The next day the OG kiddo comes in with a pair of Jordans he never wears for the new kid to have and a note from his mom saying it was okay. It was one of the most precious things I've ever seen.

In Austin, Texas, my family and I went to a breakfast place. The food was good, the waiters and waitresses were amazing. But they messed up our order. They were short on staff, apparently. Someone had either quit or got fired, and another person had called out that day, so it was only a few people.

And it also happened to be one of the busiest times of the week. So, my mother went to go to the bathroom, and when she came out, she noticed our waitress standing in the corner. She was about to cry, or was already crying. I had been waiting and looking out for her the whole time, so I was able to see this.

My mother noticed her high stress levels, and asked if she had wanted a hug. The waitress nodded, and said “yeah...” My mom opened her arms, and brought the waitress into a hug to comfort her. And once the waitress had calmed down enough, my mother came back to the table after making sure she was alright, and told us what happened.

I feel lucky to have my mother in my life, I love her so much.

My dad and I were at a stoplight a few blocks away from a grocery store and a homeless man was sitting on the curb. I would've given him some money, but the road was pretty busy. I watched a guy with two huge bags of groceries walk up the street and give them to the homeless man. It was such a kind gesture I almost cried right there in the car.

My son has moderate cerebral palsy and autism. When he was about to start preschool at age 3, I lost sleep over whether he would be bullied or accepted by his peers. Three years later, I’m getting choked up thinking about every time I’ve had to drop him off late. Each time in each year, his classmates stop whatever they’re doing, yell his name, smile at him, and usually a few will run over to give him a hug. It’s the most wholesome, beautiful thing a mom could ever see. It’s also wonderful when a peer sees him outside of school and talks to him just like any other kid. There’s no way they could begin to understand how much their wholesome, pure love means to my son and his mommy. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go find some tissues.

Bit of back story: My pregnancy had been difficult and I was worried for my unborn child. A 20-week scan showed it was looking like my baby had a birth defect but we would only know the full extent when he was born.

Being in a vulnerable state, I was looking for hope.

As is the case with these things, I turned to woo. I bought a large crystal necklace (it was a beast of a thing) and put all hopes that this would ‘save’ my baby. My husband is not the spiritual type and told me up front that it was a pile of nonsense, but if it made me happy, to wear the ’thing’. It might as well have been attached to my skin, that thing never came off.

Moving along to the birth.

I had to be induced as the baby wasn’t moving. After being poked and prodded with all sorts of stuff, I finally was in labor. Slowly things took a turn for the worse, this baby wasn’t going to come out smoothly. He was in distress and he needed out immediately. Before I knew it, I was about to go into surgery for an emergency c section. I was told I had to take off all my jewelry.

In a haze, I took off the crystal and handed it to my husband.

I'm being wheeled away to surgery and all I can see is the look of fear on my husband's face as he slowly put on the necklace.

That moment has never left me.

Thankfully my child was born healthy and the defect wasn't life-threatening. He is now turning 3 and my life couldn’t be further away from that moment but it still gets me in the feels.

I lost my parents when I was pretty young. My cat would sleep next to me. Eventually he decided he had stuff to do early in the morning (run after invisible stuff, scratch things and lick the food bowl clean). He started bringing me his beanie baby to wake up next to. It was a gray kitty just like him. I was touched that he doesn’t want me to wake up alone. I also believe he thought I was stupid enough to think it was him.

I've told this story before, but years ago I struggled to pay rent and buy food. One day my buddy Ivan stopped by for a visit and asked if he could have something to drink and I told him there was some cold water in the refrigerator.

He did not realize that one gallon of water in my refrigerator was all I had. He looked in my freezer, then my cupboards and saw they were empty. I thought that he was looking for a cup. He goes, "Hang on, I'll be right back".

He comes back about 30 minutes later with several bags of groceries. I'll never forget that and I will always be thankful.

My pup will never eat food that isn't in his bowl without explicit permission. One time, a chip fell on the floor and we never said 'go on then', we just left for the table. Nearly an hour later, we come back to the kitchen and he's still there, eyes fixed on the chip with a focus like no other. Such a good boy.

I was spending the night at my mom's house for Christmas. Her birthday is on the 25th and we usually go to a movie for it, so it was just easier for me to spend the night so we could go out the next day.

Anyway, it's about 2am and I'm outside having a smoke, when suddenly I hear one of the neighbors yelling, "What are you doing outside? Get your butt back in." Immediately after I hear a kid yell in protest, followed by, "Dad, I just wanted to see Santa land on the roof!!"

This kid snuck out of bed and out of the house at 2 in the morning when it was probably like 20F outside, just so he could see Santa. It was really adorable, and also pretty hilarious.

My parents always told me that Santa won’t come down the chimney with presents unless I’m asleep. So, I would sneak out of bed and sleep on the floor near the fireplace hoping that I’d wake up when he arrived.

I always awoke in my own bed assuming Santa saw me sleeping and took me to my room. Good guy, that Santa.

I’m a record producer. On a particular song the client wanted a child’s voice to open it, so the bassist’s 10 year-old son came and recorded a vocal part.

Once we wrapped, the singer said to the kid: “Musicians get paid.” And he handed the kid a $20 note. The bassist then did the same.

A small gesture maybe, but in our world making a living is hard, and it was amazing to see professionals showing how it ought to be.

I was sitting in a bar having a drink after work when this guy comes in and orders some shots. After the first couple, he starts low key crying. A semi-regular old man sitting near him asked what was up; turns out his girlfriend split up with him and he wasn't taking it well. Old man asks to join him for a drink, new guy agrees.

This old man, named Keith, always drank two, paid, and left.

Anyways, they sat there and got absolutely hammered. They tried every spirit in the place and really tied one on. Keith was going on and on about how he hasn't let loose since he was stationed on Okinawa. By this point, new guy has completely forgotten about his ex girlfriend. They both made each other's evening.

Next time I saw Keith, I asked him how the night went. He said he hadn't had a hangover like that since Okinawa.

The new guy become a semi regular and joined our little bar family. He eventually hooked up with a new girl, and I believe they're still seeing each other. Unfortunately he moved, so I haven't seen him in like 6 months.

My wife’s childhood German Shepherd Ellie was a smart cookie, and very prim and proper compared to our dogs now.

She would hate going in the rain. If you let her out when it was raining she would stop at the doorway, look at you, huff, and go back to lay down somewhere and wait for the rain to clear.

If she really had to go she would sprint in and out as quick as possible. I’m talking under a minute to do the deed.

It got so extreme at some point while my wife was growing up, that they had to buy her a yellow raincoat, booties and hat. Only then would she go out to do her business reliably. She would never make a mess inside, but the raincoat made sure that she didn’t harm her bladder trying to hold it in for too long.

Our eldest dog now was a puppy raised with Ellie, and she learned to act the same way then. Our other dogs learned from her too. So now it will probably continue. At least they don’t require raincoats.

A few years ago, I was on my way to catch the bus when a middle-aged woman called me from behind a newspaper stand. She pointed to the bus stop, one block down, where a guy was standing holding something. She said he was her son, who just got out of jail after serving time, and today was his first day trying to make an honest life. He had baked some traditional pastries himself and was trying to sell them on the bus stop, and she wanted to make sure things went right for him on his first day so he would not feel tempted to go back to his former life of crime.

Then she put some money on my hand, asked me if I could buy some pastry and obviously not tell him she was there.

At the stop, I saw the guy, probably in his mid-30s, with this little table of pastries. I bought three, we chatted a little bit and one minute later my bus arrived and I left.

It always makes me emotional and warm inside to think how pure a mother's love can be.

One Christmas season I saw a young woman (late teens or early 20s) walking through an IKEA picking up things in the huge marketplace area, taking a picture of them, putting them back, and moving on. She was obviously thinking intently about gifts but I was confused - was she making a wish list or something?

An employee saw this and asked if they could help her find something. She says, "Oh, no thank you. I'm helping my dad Christmas shop. He works really hard and has very little time, plus when he gets off work his brain is just fried. So every year when I'm on break I go around to a bunch of stores and take pictures of things I think my mom would really like. Then I'll show them to him at home. We talk about them and he picks some out. Then I go back and get them. It's the least I can do for him, plus it's kinda become our little secret Christmas tradition. Mom has no idea."

So my mom is like a walking charity that can essentially do no harm. She has her flaws, but she does her best. Any-who, This is a story on how she shares things.

Just this week, we were at the supermarket and she saw we had forgotten our plastic reusable bags, so I went to get them. When I came back and gave them to her, she took out two of the more expensive ones and gave them to this lady that was with her kid, and to be honest, how she did it was so nice. She saw she didn’t have the budget to buy the bags (I guess) so she just gave them to her. And the lady was so grateful.

Another time, she gave away a pendant to a girl with Down Syndrome that I’m sure was expensive (I don’t keep track of what she buys but it was on the expensive side of the box that day) and the girl was so happy.