I was recently touched emotionally when I read an article on nytimes.com about an Argentine police officer and another on foxnews.com on the celebrity Pink, both showing kindness to young children.

The first article, written by Ernesto Londono and published Aug. 23, is titled “Argentine police officer promoted after breastfeeding neglected baby.”

The article tells how Officer Celeste Ayala was promoted to sergeant after a photo of her breastfeeding a neglected baby at a hospital, while in uniform, went viral on the Internet.

“The officer, Celeste Ayala, was among a team of officers who took six siblings into state custody in La Plata, a municipality of Buenos Aires, on Aug. 14, because they were in dismal conditions at home.”

The article further states that when the youngest, who was about 7 months old, was crying furiously, Ayala, who is breastfeeding her own 16-month-old daughter, sought permission from hospital staff to breastfeed the baby.

According to the article, “Marcos Heredia, a colleague, posted the photo of Ayala breastfeeding the boy on Facebook. The post then went viral, turning the small act of kindness into national news.

The second article, written by Katherine Lam and published Aug. 23, is titled “Pink stops concert to comfort 14-year-old girl who lost her mom: ‘It was a hug from heaven.’”

The article states, “The singer stopped her set in Brisbane after Leah Murphy’s sign caught her attention. Leah was in the audience with her aunt, Katrina Donkin, and waving poster boards that read, ‘Hi, my name is Leah. I’m 14 years old and I just lost my beautiful mom. I would love a hug.’”

When Pink could not read the signs Leah and her aunt were holding, other fans started grabbing the signs and began waving them to get Pink’s attention, the article states.

Someone also handed Pink a brochure about Leah, and after reading it, she stopped her concert and began walking toward Leah, who lost her mother just two months before the show.

I was also moved the other day when I saw a teenager stop in the middle of 15th Street in Allentown, pick up a hubcap and put it on the sidewalk before continuing to cross the street.

Random acts of kindness such as these can help brighten someone’s day.

Kindness can begin with one simple act such as a smile.

There are many ways to show kindness. Some examples include:

• Holding the door open for another person;

• Paying for a stranger’s cup of coffee;

• Letting another driver who is trying to pull out into traffic merge in front of you;

• Letting someone who has fewer groceries than you go in front of you at the cash register; and

• Offering a kind word or a hug and being a good listener to someone who is hurting.

“The positive effects of kindness are experienced in the brain of everyone who witnessed the act, improving their mood and making them significantly more likely to ‘pay it forward,’” states the website randomactsofkindness.org. “This means one good deed in a crowded area can create a domino effect and improve the day of dozens of people.”

Kindness should not be limited to Random Acts of Kindness Day Feb. 17 and World Kindness Day Nov. 13.

Every day should be the day to show kindness to others.

Help brighten or touch someone’s life today.

Susan Bryant

editorial assistant

Parkland Press

Northwestern Press