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In a world where you can be anything, be kind. Those words can be found throughout the area, especially on school marquees and church message boards. It's a simple message, one that sinks in after a while.
For a Wheeling Island family, that message was more than just a slogan. I received a card from a husband and wife who live on Wheeling Island, not far from the stadium there. They told me that the wife was unloading groceries from the trunk of her car the other day.
It was a pretty heavy load. She explained that there were two teens walking up the street who stopped and offered assistance to carry in her groceries. These two young men wore Wheeling Park High School shirts and had just come from football practice at the stadium.
Imagine just finishing a workout for football and then offering to perform a bit more physical exertion. The lady was thrilled. Soon her trunk was empty and the teens were on their way home.
In her note to me she wrote, "They didn't know that my husband is a recent amputee and can't do all he used to, but is doing great. So my groceries were all carried in and what a help. Great young men."
Now you can chalk this story up to common courtesy on the part of the football players. Or maybe somewhere along the line of their upbringing, they have had good role models. Maybe parents and coaches instilled the message to be kind and help others. And maybe those "be kind" slogans in schools and churches were taken to heart.
In a world where bad news makes headlines, I'm happy to be able to report all is not lost. Those two teens should be proud of themselves, and I'll bet they felt pretty good after helping someone they didn't even know.
I'm pretty sure there is someone who would have sung their praises if she had met them. No one touted kindness more than the late, great, Dolly Parton. She and the rest of us are proud of you.
Heather Ziegler can be reached via email at hziegler@theintelligencer.net.