My neighborhood association keeps organizing walks for parents so they can take their children around to stop stuffed animals or fantasy-themed items (that one was weird. They wanted sparkly, magical things like unicorns, castles, mermaids, but didn't give enough notice). It's been fun. I've gotten to watch kids get very, very excited about seeing my stuffed goat and hedgehog placed strategically in my yard.
This is a different kind of small, cheerful(ish) thing and it needs a bit of set-up. In 1971 or 2, my school brought a local poet, Diana Der Hovanessian, to teach my fourth or fifth grade class a series of lessons on poetry. She was wonderful, so warm and generous. She and me eldest sister instilled and nurtured in me a lifelong love of poetry. On her last day, she gave each child a card with a personal message.
My family moved to Florida not long after, but thirty-one years later, I moved back to my hometown and saw a poetry reading organized by a local poetry club. Diana Der Hovanessian was listed as an organizer and would be attending. I went (Mary Oliver!) and showed Diana the card, which I'd always kept on my writing desk. I told her how much the lessons had meant to me, and that I was getting my MFA in Creative Writing and had a few poems published. She was as gracious as I'd remembered.
She died in 2018. I didn't think of this sooner, but Wednesday, I emailed the poetry club, with the above information, and offered the card to any of Diana's family or friends. A club officer forwarded my email to Diana's daughters and will forward the card.
After my beloved eldest sister died, I searched her AOL handle (it was 1997) and found messages she'd posted in a group for long-term Type 1 diabetics who had complications because of the infrequent testing and impure insulin used in their youth. She was dying, but every message was about helping others. It was her spirit, the older sister who'd been my best friend. I knew that was who she was, but I cherished those messages because they captured the loving, generous sister, I knew. I hope the card and story give a hint of that feeling to Diana's daughters.