I put my bags beneath the seat and stretched out my legs. With a drink in my hand, I picked up my book and settled back for my four-hour flight to LA. This experience stood in contrast to the flight I’d taken a few months before, which included lots of candies and answering the question “Are we there yet?” frequently. On my non-kid flight, somewhere on board, a baby began to cry. Yes, I thought, as I read my book, traveling without kids was great.

My trip was to Hawaii. I was visiting a friend at Maui and running a 15k race. Then we were going to the beach of Oahu for a few days. We ate well and lazed on the beach. I didn’t have to tend to anyone’s needs but my own. But soon it was time to head home, back to responsibility, to where tasks were made harder by cries of “Five more minutes, Mom”.

After boarding for the last leg home, I noticed a mama flying with a baby. I’d been looking forward to sleeping on this final flight. But I found myself helping. Her name was Gabriela and her daughter was Olive, and they were flying to Nashville. Together we put away her things, and I picked up the dropped toys. As the plane began its descent (下降), Olive woke up. Gabriela talked to her in that sweet way a mama talks to her baby. I watched Olive’s face light up at her words, and I smiled in recognition. I’d seen that look on my kids’ faces. That expression of absolute adoration and trust. She’d helped me remember what I love about being a mom. When we landed, I helped Gabriela set up the stroller and waved them goodbye.

Then I hurried to my home, where my kids were waiting. When I walked through the door, their faces lit up like Christmas and they ran over to hold me tight. Yes, it’s nice to get away but nicer to come home.

There may be a thousand ways to say “Happy Birthday!” but the sweetest of all may very well be a special chocolate message that was recently served up by an amazingly thoughtful restaurant staff.

Creating congratulations in warm liquid cocoa was nothing new at London’s Luciano by Gino D’Acampo restaurant, but for birthday girl Natalie Te Paa, who is totally blind, the best wishes were spelled out in Braille (布莱叶盲文).

What gave the message an even greater meaning was that there was no advance planning involved. When the restaurant crew learned the dinner Te Paa was sharing with friend Claire Sara was a birthday celebration, they took it upon themselves to find and recreate the Braille translation that summed up their best wishes in well-chilled chocolate.

Te Paa could barely believe her fingertips as she traced over the raised dots.“My mind was blank for a second and then I was like, ‘Is this in Braille?’”Ta Paa said. “I’ve never had anything happen like that before. It was wild. They just really did go above and beyond. I couldn’t control my tears of joy.”

Dinner companion Sara recorded Te Paa’s delighted reaction to what had become a very different kind of surprise party and posted the cheerful footage to TikTok.

While restaurant manager Giovanni Galluccio maintains the impromptu (即兴的) gesture was simply part of the customer service they try to extend to all their patrons, clocking in with close to 16 million views to date, the Internet judged the extraordinary act of kindness extra special.

As Te Paa said, “The fact that people have responded so much and so well to it just shows how much the world needs kindness right now, how much the world needs a message of hope, needs to see people doing things and going above and beyond for each other.”

This is one message sure to melt in your hearts, not in your hands.

I felt anxious when going into my room from school. Every day, my room was something different. The hours away at school were long enough to cause a terrible change to my peaceful harbor. Today was no exception.

As I entered the house, Mom greeted me with a smile. It seemed like nothing was wrong. But I was still doubtful about it. Yesterday, around the mouth of my favorite figurine (小雕像) was a chocolate cookie. Obviously, Callie had enjoyed the cookie so much that she wanted to share it with my angel.

I looked around for Callie, who had just turned three. I didn’t see her, but I heard the TV blaring (发出声音) in the other room. As I examined the family room, I noticed it was pretty messy. There were toys all over the floor, but none of them seemed to be mine. Maybe she hadn't entered today. I was so hopeful that I breathed a sigh of relief.

I pushed my room door open and saw damage! There were a few headless dolls, some broken blocks, and a few juice-stained stuffed animals. “She did it again!” I screamed in anger. My mother ran up to me, embarrassed. She promised to put a Callie-proof lock on my door tonight. I felt better, because I knew that soon my room would truly belong to me. However, I was still angry with my little sister so I went into the family room to tell her how she had made life unpleasant for me. “Callie... ” I started. “Hooray!” she shouted.

She leaped off the sofa and hugged my knees with such happiness that I could only look down at her and smile. After all, she was only three and learning about the world in her own way. And she always chose to explore and destroy my room because she loved me, her big sister.