You never know whose life you will affect with just one small gesture.

When I was in college there was girl I used to see around a lot. We never became friends, but I saw her often enough to say hello. Sometimes we would chat about the classwork, or how our day went. I’m really bad with names, so I never learned hers until my graduating year, when she wrote a small note in my little commemorative notebook.

She thanked me for always having a smile and chatting with her, and said it was act of kindness that meant a lot to her.

I don’t know what she was going through in school. She never told me her problems. She left school soon after, and of course, I lost track of her. I didn’t know her name before she left, but I’ve remembered it ever since. I hope she’s doing okay, and that she paid the kindness she received, forward.

The world is full of more kind people than you think. I’ve met them. I’ve known quite a few. I try really hard to be one, no matter what my feelings are that day.

I hope I’m remembered by others the way I remember Hannah, and hope she still remembers me.