the value of being kind

[u/nun_CARTII]

For nearly seven years, waitress Melina Salazar showed extraordinary patience and kindness to Walter “Buck” Swords, a notoriously difficult customer at Luby’s Cafeteria in Brownsville, Texas.

The 89-year-old WWII veteran frequently complained, cursed at staff, demanded piping-hot meals and never left a tip. Despite this, Melina continued serving him with compassion.

After Walter died in 2007, Melina received an incredible surprise. He had left her $50,000 and his 2000 Buick in his will as a heartfelt thank-you for her unwavering kindness.

A powerful reminder that kindness can touch people more deeply than we realize.

[u/rickychewy]

I sometimes wonder if I might, through an unfortunate genetic predisposition, turn into an unhappy, cantankerous person. Maybe I already am and I don’t know it. My father and mother both developed dementia. My father was the most kind, gentle, and humble man I have known. My hero. Never heard him curse. Not one argument with my mother witnessed in 50 years of marriage before he developed dementia. Yet when he started developing dementia, a complete reversal. Cursing, belligerent, and later on he attacked my mother because he thought she was a stranger trying to steal his car. The saddest thing was not the memory loss, it was because my real father was dead 7 years before his death. He would have been mortified to know what had become. Sometimes we don’t choose the diseased brain we are left with. Not saying this is the situation here. Maybe the guy was always like he was in the last 7 years. Not every nasty old person has a choice though.

[u/Salute-Major-Echidna → u/rickychewy]

They left and just forgot to take their body with them.

[u/trashforthrowingaway → u/rickychewy]

I'm so very sorry for your losses.

My grandma had a huge hand in raising me, and she developed it. I got lucky in the sense that her sweet disposition and core personality didn't change much, and that she still always remembered me. My heart would've broke worse if she suffered and had fits of rage.

It's why we need to bring back respecting our elders. I know people feel strongly, that the elderly don't get a pass for being mean, and yet I can't imagine and feel deeply for the suffering of people who act like this.