Gratitude's Gift

A Creston woman recently recounted her experience in a checkout line.

- ALANDA GREENE

Behind her, two young men had few items; she waved them ahead. When she came forward to pay, the cashier said she owed nothing. The two young men had paid her bill. Overwhelmed and grateful for their kindness, she resolved to repeat their generosity for another. A friend who heard her story also promised to do the same. Gratitude inspires and begets more of itself. Biologist Robin Wall Kimmerer observes, “If our first response is gratitude, then our second is reciprocity: to give a gift in return.”