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One icy, snowy morning in February, my mom, who is 85 years old and lives in Stoneville, fell and broke her wrist.

She was taking her morning walk. Two people on their way to work, stopped and gave her a ride back to her house. (At that time she did not know the wrist was broken.)

In retrospect that “morning walk” should have been postponed until better weather; but, nonetheless, it happened! She was anxious to resume those walks because she had had to lay off for about four months due to a knee injury that occurred when a large dog ran out into the road and knocked her down.

Mama is a determined woman.

After the surgery to repair the wrist she needed assistance. So, Mama came to Greensboro to stay with me (Betsy) while she did her therapy and regained her strength.

We would go to Stoneville each week and check the house, get her hair done and do errands.

On one occasion, Barbara, who often walks past Mama’s house, stopped to say hello. She asked if she could plant some flowers in Mama’s planters on the front stoop so that when Mama came home she would have something pretty to welcome her back.

We said, “Of course.”

Today Mama is back at home, and those planters are bulging with an assortment of petunias and other spring and summer flowers.

The planting of those flowers seemed to be such a simple gesture, but the effect it had made the transition home much easier. It seemed as if the flowers were welcoming Mama home with a cheerfulness that would otherwise not have been present.

One small act of kindness created a warm feeling for many people.

— Betsy Rule, Greensboro, and Doris Claybrook, Stoneville