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You are here: Home / Nature & Respite / We All Need A Little Kindness / Acts of Kindness: A Trowel and Some Baseball

Acts of Kindness: A Trowel and Some Baseball

by | 46 Comments

This post is in: 

This is going to be brief tonight, as I pretty sure I only have one, maybe two, brain cells that are currently not suffering jetlag.

From Steeplejack – who made my morning with this sweet story:

what came next. I was forced to toss it despite pleading with the agent, because the lines were so long I would’ve missed my flights had I tried to go all the way back through the checked luggage and security lines, which had taken me almost four hours to traverse (2/?) 

at that point.

This meant that I was forced to part with my very first trowel, the trowel I had been gifted by my mentor John Dobbins during my very first field season, atop the Temple of Jupiter in Pompeii. It held an endless amount of personal significance to me and (3/?) 

I was absolutely heartbroken and devestated.

So my partner started plotting to buy me a new trowel as a surprise for our anniversary. Because he’s a medical doctor and not an archaeologist, he didn’t know where to start, and, unbeknownst to me, tracked down and emailed (4/?) 

John Dobbins to ask him what brand of trowel archaeologists use. But John had something else in mind. The two of them, with me still completely unknowing, schemed amongst themselves and met for coffee together to pull off the most clandestine operation ever. (5/?) 
When I arrived in Charlottesville, my partner and I went downtown for dinner, and as I rounded the corner I found John there. I exclaimed, “Oh look, it’s John Dobbins!”, having not seen him in two years. I thought it was a coincidence and introduced him to Ty. Confusingly, (6/?) 

he told me, “I already know Ty.” I was so confused, thinking maybe they knew each other through the hospital or some other community event in Charlottesville.

Instead, I found out that John was there to meet us for dinner. John sat down for soup with us (7/?) 

and gifted me the most special gift I have ever received: the first trowel he got on his first excavation ever, at UMich. He told me that right as Ty had emailed him with his query, he had been thinking about how to rehome it, and the two of them had met to arrange a way (8/?) 
to secretly surprise me. I didn’t want to take it at first b/c it felt like too much.
I was/am so utterly shocked and emotional. I am the luckiest person to have such a loving partner and I am so lucky to have such a kind, supportive and generous mentor like John Dobbins. (9/?) 
The trowel in question 💓 I’m honestly too scared to use it right now because I want to treasure it forever but I am so grateful and shocked and wow. The two best people I know.
Image
As a final note— this happened in FCO, not the states! I erroneously wrote TSA vs the European equivalent when I wrote this and they did not seem to have a shipping option & forced me to make a split second choice that I immediately regretted 😭 

==============================

From Albatrossy, a story in two parts:

======================

I don’t have an attribution to this one, if it’s you claim it in the comments. Meanwhile, I’m gonna get the tissues again.

==========================

And finally, from Albatrossy again, this just makes me smile every time I watch it. I don’t know if Adam already posted it, but it’s worth another watch:

https://twitter.com/jabuttee/status/1569777597197815808?s=20&t=etpOeZaGrLjbsjaBtwif-Q

And a little Great Dane love for you. I swear they missed me…just not right in this moment. LOL

May be an image of dog and indoor

And yes, before you ask, there is room for people on the couch, they know they have to move and tend to make a puppy pile to leave room for the bipeds.

Hoping this brightens your evening and gives you a bit of a reprieve.  I have to go apologize to the cats again….

 

 

Reader Interactions

46Comments

  3. 3.

    RSA

    What a great story about the trowel, with a happy ending! I can sympathize. A friend once told me about having to give up a small, treasured pocket knife to the TSA. A few years ago I forgot that I had Laguiole corkscrew in the bottom of my travel bag, a gift from my wife, that I had to surrender at airport security. It’s a painful experience.

  4. 4.

    Alison Rose

    Reunion/greeting the heroes videos from Ukraine are my absolute favorite thing to watch.

    Maybe we should make McCarthy watch them. On repeat.

    I do also love seeing athletes greet little kids. It’s always clear how much more they enjoy those encounters than most others! When I was 9, my mom was flying to New York for a visit, and my family took her to the Oakland airport and waited around at the gate to watch the plane take off. (This was well before 9/11, obvs.) Turned out the Oakland A’s were a couple gates down, waiting to leave on a road trip. Back then, we were huge A’s fans (at some point, we all kind of morphed more into Giants fans), especially my middle brother Jamie. He and I ran to a newsstand and begged for paper and a pen, then went around and got autographs from almost all of them*. The guys were so friendly and kind, cracking jokes with us and stuff. Mark McGwire, Dave Stewart, Dennis Eckersley, Terry Steinbach, even Jose Canseco, LOL. My brother got the paper laminated :)

    *The only one who wouldn’t sign was Rickey Henderson, who was sitting alone with sunglasses on and said “I don’t sign autographs, kid.” We were bummed but left him alone. Then like two weeks later, we were watching a game on TV and the camera showed him signing autographs for people in the front row when play was stopped for something. We were like……..huh, guess that policy changed.

  5. 5.

    Starfish

    I usually think large sectionals are too much furniture, but it all makes sense now. People just have an insufficient number of Great Danes.

  7. 7.

    kalakal

    @glc: It’s truly incredible.

    The last I heard the Chief & Deputy whips are still in their jobs or if you believe Rees-Mogg on his TV appearance today, maybe.

  9. 9.

    TaMara

    Hey, guys, I’m going to redirect this post a bit …it is to give folks a reprieve from politics, et al. There are plenty of threads to discuss that stuff. KTHNX 😘

  13. 13.

    Cacti

    I don’t have a team in the playoffs anymore, so I’m cheering for the Padres, the only team left that’s never won a ‘ship.

    But really, anyone but the Houston trash weasels.

  16. 16.

    eclare

    I have a cat question.  My cat Oliver, who I have had about five years, has become relentlessly affectionate in about the past three to four days.  I don’t mind, except at night when I’m trying to sleep (he is on my shoulder, I push him off, he is on my chest, I get hiccups, I push him off, rinse, repeat).

    I just wonder what is going on and if anything is wrong.  He is eating fine, and nothing in our routine has changed.

    Plus I have that perverse fear that he is like one of those nursing home cats with a sixth sense that shows extra affection to people on their last legs!

    Any thoughts?

  19. 19.

    LeftCoastYankee

    @Cacti:

    Same here, now that my Mariners are out.  I hate the Yankees (yeah, misleading nym), but the Astros are the big baddies in this neck of the woods.

    San Diego fans also seem as happy as can be, it is hard to root against that.

  20. 20.

    TaMara

    @eclare: I’m sure WereBear would have thoughts. But I’ve found at different stages of life, their personalities change slightly. The aloof cat is suddenly a lap kitty, the lap kitty needs more alone time as she hits her senior years.

    As far as predicting your demise, until your cat scratches the blanket over your head, like she’s covering up some poo or dead thing with sand, when you have the flu*, I think you’re safe.

    *true story

  21. 21.

    hilts

    Clayton Kershaw is a class act and I hope the Dodgers make it back to the World Series and FUCK the NY Yankees.

  24. 24.

    Steve in the ATL

    It’s not often one can use “heartrending” and “trowel” in the same sentence

  25. 25.

    eclare

    @TaMara:   Hahaha!  I guess getting older could be it.  He was around ten when I got him, so he’d be around fifteen now.

    Just weird.  Along with making it hard to sleep, makes it hard to use the phone.

  31. 31.

    eclare

    @schrodingers_cat:   Good to know about your two kittehs.  And I have been thinking about taking him to the vet to get some baseline tests done since he is getting older.  His prior owner had him declawed so he doesn’t go out, so I’ve been remiss in taking him.

  34. 34.

    CarolPW

    @eclare: You need to determine if it is affection or just warmth he wants. Get a heated cat bed – at that age all of ours have appreciated it (and yes, vet).

  35. 35.

    zhena gogolia

    @eclare: how old is he? When my 15 year old cat was doing this, the vet said it could be dementia. I started wearing a stocking cap to bed to protect from him sitting on my head.

  38. 38.

    CarolPW

    @zhena gogolia: ​
     I had a 70 lb dog who would sleep on my head (curled around it, acting like a night-cap) in the winter. I hate being cold, and she made my winter nights much better.

  42. 42.

    zhena gogolia

    @eclare: There was nothing really to do about it. He died of cancer (unrelated to the head-sitting). Now I really wish he would be there to sit on my head, although it used to drive me crazy.

  46. 46.

    leeleeFL

    I have seen the Ukrainian Family reunion one,it makes me smile all the time and be happy that we’re helping!  Slava Ukraine!

    The HUGE Puppies made me soooo happy!  I love ppl who let their dogs sit  on the furniture!

    The nym “new liver, same eagles” is freaking genius! I wish I knew ppl IRL who would get it!

    THANK TOU FOR A GREAT MORNING!

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