Jennifer Lynn answers the question:

What is the nicest thing a non-family member has ever done for you?

After I graduated college, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with my English degree, so I figured I would want to either be a teacher or go to law school, which are two very different things. And so in the state of Virginia, you can have your own pre-kindergarten class if you have a college degree.

So I taught for a year at this amazing school, these little kids, and I bonded with all of them — and then I got the news that I had been accepted to law school and decided to go that route. And this little boy, Jared, who was four years old at the time, he gave me a going-away gift and it was his favorite Thomas the Tank Engine toy, and I knew it was like his main thing. He carried it around with him all the time; I saw him take naps with it, and it was just a very selfless, beautiful thing that he would think I could provide a good home for this toy.

And it still just touches me so much because I could see developmentally that he and all his peers weren't really into sharing yet. I asked his mom if it was okay and she said, "Yeah, it's okay with us for you to have this toy. He really loves you and he knows that you can take care of it." And so, it just sounds probably so simple, but sometimes I still think, He trusted me to take care of his most prized toy. And if he trusted me, I can trust myself with a ton of things.

I don't know, I just always return to that… just really active selflessness and kindness from him. So I still think about it — and I actually re-homed Thomas to my nephew, so he's having a great time. So that's all.
 

Jennifer Lynn is a Marketing Writer on the Shift Community Transformation Team.