Lauren Horton

[☔ @Whotfismick]

“Are you free after work?”

Me after work:

[♡ @ArtCelineLove]

I've already given it my all this week and it's only Tuesday.

[Wholesome Side of 𝕏 @itsme_urstruly]

NOBODY has stronger opinions than a dog when it wants to go a certain direction on a walk.

[Resko★ @Bloke_Baz]

The way everyone checks out of work on Fridays is a clear sign we need a 4 day workweek.

[le.hl @0xleegenz]

Sending apologies to the older folks I used to judge for eating dinner at 5 and being in bed before 8

You were right. I was wrong

[James 𝕏ond @james_xond]

No matter how tired you are after work, play with your pets. You’re their whole day.

[Mr PitBull Stories @MrPitbull07]

I drive Uber. Night shift mostly. Last week picked up an old man at 11 PM. He got in and said: "I need you to drive me to five places tonight. I'll pay you $500. Cash. But you can't ask why until we're done." Handed me five addresses. First stop: a house in the suburbs. He sat in the car. Stared at it for ten minutes. Crying silently. "Okay. Next one." I drove.

Second stop: elementary school. Empty. Dark. He got out. Walked to the playground. Sat on a swing. Stayed there twenty minutes. Came back to the car. "I taught here. 43 years. Best job I ever had." Third stop: diner. He went inside. Ordered coffee. Sat alone in a booth. Didn't drink it. Just sat. Looking around. Fifteen minutes. Came back. "My wife and I had our first date here. 1967." Fourth stop: cemetery.

He got out at the cemetery. Walked to a grave. Stood there. Talking to it. Couldn't hear what he said. Thirty minutes. When he came back his eyes were red. "My wife. Three years today." Fifth stop: hospital. He asked me to park. Wait. "This is the last one." He looked at me. "Now I'll tell you why. I have stage four cancer. Weeks left. Maybe days. Tonight I wanted to see my whole life. One last time. Before I can't anymore."

I started crying. Right there. "The house - that's where I raised my kids. The school - where I found my purpose. The diner - where I fell in love. The cemetery - where I said goodbye. And here. The hospital. Where I'm checking in tonight. Hospice floor. I'm not going home." He handed me $500. "Thank you for driving me through my life. You're the last stranger who'll ever be kind to me. I wanted it to be gentle. You made it gentle."

I refused the money. "I can't take this." He insisted. "Please. I have nobody to leave it to. My kids don't talk to me. I have no friends left. You gave me three hours of kindness. That's worth more than $500 to me." He got out. Grabbed his small suitcase. Turned back. "What's your name?" "Marcus." "Thank you, Marcus. For being the last good thing." He walked into the hospital. I sat in my car. Sobbing. For an hour.

Couldn't stop thinking about him. Went back next day. Asked for him. "Mr. Patterson. Room 412." Brought flowers. Knocked. He was in bed. Smiled when he saw me. "Marcus. You came back." "Couldn't leave it like that. Are you okay?" "Dying. But I got to see my life last night. So yes. I'm okay." We talked for two hours. About his wife. His students. The kids who stopped calling. The life he lived.

I visited every day for two weeks. Brought coffee. Read him the news. Sat in silence sometimes. He told me everything. The regrets. The joys. The moments he'd relive. "I thought I'd die alone," he said one day. "But you're here. A stranger who became family in my last days. That's a gift." I held his hand. "You're not dying alone. Not anymore." He cried. "Thank you for seeing me. When I was invisible."

Mr. Patterson died on a Tuesday. 3:17 AM. I was there. Holding his hand. His last words: "Tell people. Tell them to look at strangers. Really look. Everyone's dying. Some faster than others. But we're all heading somewhere. Be kind on the way. You were kind. You saved my last days." He closed his eyes. Heart monitor flatlined. I stayed another hour. Couldn't let go. He died with someone. That mattered.

His funeral had six people. Me. Three nurses. A lawyer. One former student who saw the obituary. That's it. A man who taught for 43 years. Loved a woman for 52. Lived 81 years. Six people. I spoke. "Mr. Patterson taught me something in his last two weeks.

Every stranger is someone's whole world. Every Uber passenger has a story. Every person you pass is living and dying and hoping someone sees them. He paid me $500 to drive him through his life. But he gave me something worth more. The knowledge that kindness to strangers isn't extra. It's everything. Because we're all strangers. Until someone stops. Looks. Listens. Stays." I keep the $500 in my glove box. Never spent it. It's a reminder.

[Celestara @celestaracosmos]

The older I get, the more I realize being in a hurry is a terrible way to live your life.

[Simons @Simon_Ingari]

You are totally replaceable at WORK

You can't be replaced at HOME

Keep that perspective

[Ama Judith @Ama_Serwaaa]

Tomorrow is Monday, and guess what?
We’re walking into a week full of good news, tons of blessings, big moves, and daily wins.

[Sam Stein @samstein]

No. It's not Sunday. It's actually Thursday

[Mr PitBull Stories @MrPitbull07]

"Nobody understood why Dad kept the storage unit.

Cost him $89 a month. We told him to cancel it, sell the stuff, save the money. He's 68, retired on a fixed income. Can barely afford his medication. But every month, without fail, $89 to Store-All on Industrial Drive.
"What's even in there?" I asked last Christmas.
"Things people need," he said. Wouldn't explain further.

I followed him there in March. Couldn't help myself. Worried he was hoarding, losing his mind, wasting money we didn't have.
Watched him unlock unit 247. It was full. Furniture. Appliances. Clothes on racks. Kitchen supplies. Bedding. Toys. All organized, labeled, clean.

A woman with three kids met him there. He walked her through like a store. "Take whatever you need. No rush. No charge."
She left with a microwave, dishes, winter coats for the kids, blankets. Crying. Thanking him over and over.
"Dad, what is this?"

He sighed. "When your mom and I divorced in '92, I moved into an empty apartment. Slept on the floor for three months. Ate off paper plates. It broke something in me, that emptiness. Made a promise then. If I ever could, I'd help people starting over."
"But $89 a month"
"I don't need much. But they need everything. People leaving abuse. People getting out of shelters. Refugees. Anyone starting from zero."

He'd been doing it for eleven years. Filled that unit with donated furniture, thrift store finds, things neighbors gave him. Gave it all away to people rebuilding their lives. Over 200 families.
"Why didn't you tell us?"
"Because you'd try to stop me. Say I can't afford it. But I can't afford not to. You don't forget what empty feels like."

I posted about it on Facebook. Just a photo of Dad in his storage unit, brief explanation. Asked if anyone had furniture to donate.

It exploded. 4,000 shares in two days. Donations poured in. Furniture stores contributed. People rented additional units. Five units now. Volunteers helping.

"Dad's Second Start" it's called. Sixteen storage facilities across the state doing the same thing. Furnishing empty apartments for people escaping, recovering, beginning again.

Dad still pays for his original unit though. Won't let anyone else cover it.
"It's my promise," he says. "Some things you pay for yourself."

Last week, a woman showed up with her daughter. "Your dad furnished my apartment in 2015 when I left my abusive husband. I'm a social worker now. I send people to him. Brought dishes to donate."

Dad cried. Doesn't cry often.
Because he remembers sleeping on an empty floor. And he made sure hundreds of others never had to."
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Let this story reach more hearts....
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Ai image is for demonstration purpose only.
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By Mary Nelson

[Pastor West @Pastor__West]

another christmas with my parents alive, what else could i ask for

[Soleil @soleiljolina]

There’s no better feeling than coming home and immediately changing into your Adam Sandler fit

[: @_dxllz7]

i absolutely loooooove getting in the bed. the excitement of finally laying down? unmatched

[Taurus Groove @jiggyjayy2]

Christmas is in 10 days and work has not slowed down???

[Thrilla the Gorilla @ThrillaRilla369]

Apologies to the older folks we used to judge for eating dinner at 5 and being in bed by 9. You guys were really on to something.

[Big Choctaw @Derekalexander_]

these kids got more PTO days at school than i do at work

[Boring_Business @BoringBiz_]

If you woke up today and

> have a job
> can call both your parents
> not physically ill
> have somewhere to go back home to

it is a good day regardless of what else is going on in the world or what you might be stressed about

easy to take these things for granted