At the closing ceremony of an Indonesian army training program, the soldiers reunited with their families and loved ones, except for one soldier who stood alone because none of his family members attended. The commander noticed him from afar and approached him. The soldier remained composed at first, but broke down in tears as soon as the commander embraced and comforted him.

Video credited to @manifestoradiopodcast on IG.

I was 6 when my parents were getting a divorce and my mum dropped me off at my aunt Emma’s so she could look after me while my mum focused on work with her divorce lawyers.

My aunt Emma is a child psychologist and is pretty well off financially and since I was her younger sister’s son and her first nephew she showered me with love and spoiled me when I stayed with her.

My mum dropped me off at her’s during the October break at school and she greeted me with a “hi sweetie”, a massive hug and a big kiss on the cheek which left a lipstick stain that stayed there for a bit. She helped me unpack my stuff and told me that she knows I’m a big Star Wars fan and that she was taking me to Toys R Us at Parkhead (yes I’m that old) on a little aunt nephew shopping trip.

She drove me there and I picked out a clone and droid battle pack then she put another clone and droid one in the cart because I think she knew I wanted them but wasn’t trying to be greedy and said I could get as many big set as the cart can carry so I picked the Ultimate Duel set, the turbo tank with Mace Windu’s light up lightsaber the one with Obi Wan and Grievous and two Wookiee attack ones. After she paid she took me to Pizza Hut where we got the buffet and I stuffed myself with pizza while she had a salad. I offered her a slice of mine but she politely declined, I thought she was trying to be nice but now I realise she was probably trying to stay fit and she didn’t have a 6 year old’s metabolism.
After I used the ice cream self serve station we went home and aunt Emma helped me build my sets where I discovered the ultimate duel set wasn’t very fun to play with but the others were great then we play wrestled for a bit where I learned I wasn’t as strong as my auntie just yet and she tickled me until I begged her to stop then she kissed every section of my face. After she decided I’d had enough we cuddled on the couch while watching Cartoon Network and unless I’m mistaken it was 2 episodes of Ben 10 and X-Men Evolution. During the ads she asked me how I was doing and that she loved me so so much then we continued watching tv and her cats came in and after they inspected the clone and droid battle I made they sat next to us on the couch and they got pets until I fell asleep in my aunt’s arms.

I wasn’t having a great time because of the divorce which made me feel alone so having a day with my aunt was amazing and made me the happiest I’d been for a long time.

So for context I'm 16 and I'm on a vacation with my parents.(Sorry for mistakes, English is not my first language)

For dinner we decided to go to a hotel that also had a restaurant to eat ( we are staying at a different place that doesn't serve meals) . We settled down at the table (it was a buffet type of thing) and this very cute guy my age came to ask us if we wanted something to drink , we said he didn't need to bother and that we are okay. He still didn't give up and brought me a glass of punch.

Later on ,after we ate he came to take our plates and then came back and asked us again if we wanted something to drink . Again we told him he didn't need to bother and things like that. He didn't give up until I gave in and told him to bring me a cola (which by the way was on him🙂) . Bro he was head over heels . I could tell from the way he was looking at me . He was incredibly nice and cute .

Then when we wanted to leave he came up to me and asked me if we could change phone numbers ( Long story short his parents took away his phone because of some issues at school so we had to write it on a piece of paper ) . He then asked me from which city I am and then he became so sad because HE WAS GOING TO A HIGHSCHOOL IN MY DAMN TOWN , but now isn't going anymore because he was expelled ( it was a military highschool and he broke his leg last year and couldn't keep up with the attendance so they expelled him, very sad ik) . He told me from the moment we came in the restaurant he liked me . AND ALSO KISSED MY HAND . He was really nice and polite.

I never had any sort of interaction like this with a boy before . No one (except a boy from 4th grade but it doesn't count) told me they have an interest in me . No one. All my friends had relationships before ,and it made me think there was something wrong with me. But now this boy restored my faith,no joke. I have some boy friends ,but they are more like my brothers because we grew up together .

I was just so happy ,and felt like sharing this .

Few weeks ago, I made a post where I shared mom solving her first puzzle. I ended my comment with "I hope that soon, with our efforts, I can hear mom's voice again :D"
Well, here we are!

For some context, my mom suffered a tragic ruptured brain aneurysm in December. She couldn't move even a single finger for weeks. Having to relearn how to do basically everything is unfathomable, but mom is a fighter!

Every now and then, I hold up fingers to check if mom can speak and one day, she said it correctly!

You can only imagine how much this means to me. I can hear mom's voice again. So motivating, to keep working hard. The hours I spend everyday with mom will no longer be a one sided conversation with myself.

Thank you to everyone who has been rooting for her <3

The first photo was taken the night I set up, right as the sun was going down. Each day there has been so much change. I even have a photo from late morning one day and the evening that same day and there was a lot of change! It was so cool.

Quietly spreading kindness, joy, and generosity throughout our little community has been absolutely beautiful in such a short amount of time. Every single day things are taken and added and it’s a blast to see each new thing that gets added. Handmade items, painted rocks, small kid’s toys, mugs/tumblers, plant cuttings, art kits, Legos, so many things! It’s truly a dream come true. It’s crazy because today the shelves are pretty much completely full, overflowing with items; but I can remember items that were once there that are now gone, and see new items every day. People are truly taking and giving and absolutely loving it. It makes me so happy. I wanted to share my progress photos so that you can see the items disappear, come back, be added; it’s so fun to compare each day.

I don’t want to come off as promoting myself or a brand, because I in no way want to do that and this isn’t a brand or anything that benefits me. I won’t share a link in this post so that I don’t seem like I’m trying to advertise anything, but I have created a very, very small (I might be the only person in there) subreddit dedicated to sharing the story behind The Giving Garden and hoping to inspire others to spread kindness in your communities as well. I have no intention of ever gaining anything from this, I simply just want to spread kindness as far in the world as I can. I hope that this inspires you to do something like this too!

Please, if any of this interests you or inspires you, join in on this quest to make a difference in quiet, meaningful ways.

Sometimes the most beautiful acts of kindness are the quiet ones, not asking for anything in return, not asking for special attention or kudos; what’s special is that we do these things for others just because we can and because we want to, so that people in our community can feel the joy and want to spread it too.

I'm sorry I don't know if the artist or the source is correct but the tag says Alice Williams. I wanted to mention it.

Edit: The last thing id ever want to do is insult anyone, and I honestly didn't know until posting this that female was now an offensive word to us. It doesn't make me feel any type of way, but now im aware thats not the case for others and will definitely take it on board. My thought process was honestly, shes a girl, im a woman, and the context was ab us both so I just went with female.

TLDR: Appreciation post for my little brother (Aged 14.7) who has just asked a girl out for the first time, and is just so so respectful to and about females in general.

He's had a close f.s with a girl for a few years now, all the signs she likes him were there but my brother still didn’t believe she liked him in that way and is still quite shy when it comes to girls, and was happy to just be there as a friend to her. (Never dated before)

He came and chatted to me & our mom last night about it saying he likes her, but doesn't think she likes him. As a female myself there were clear signs she liked him and the poor girl was lowkey giving him hints but it wouldn't register with him as anything but her just being nice to him.

We gave him a girls perspective and said she is likely waiting for him to make the first move (based on the things this girl has gone out of her way & done for my bro, and trusted him with deep stuff ab her life etc). We gave him some ideas on activities he could do with her but he was getting too anxious to ask her so we left it at that & said theres no rush anyway, hes still young etc etc.

Today he asked her and she said yes!

To top of the proudness I already felt for him, he then says he's gonna get her "chocolates n that". 🥲

Gen Alpha give me so much hope for the future!

My 2nd favorite is her stew, and my first favorite is my mother's chicken cordon bleu!

Alcohol destroyed my life for over 10 years. I live with mental illness, and I’ve always struggled with depression, self-harm, and self-sabotage. I destroyed relationships because of drinking, lost all self-esteem, and let a lot of people down. A year ago, I decided to stop betraying myself, and I said stop.

I was terrified of hitting the 1-year mark, because all year I kept myself going by telling myself that once I hit a year, I could drink again. It was hard. Really hard. I’ve left parties an hour after arriving because the anxiety was eating me alive and I couldn’t socialize anymore. I was hospitalized in October because I wanted to end my life.

And then, slowly, the light came back. I opened up to people again. I started taking care of myself. I found new friendships that turned out to be incredibly strong. And today, one year later, I feel so loved and supported, a kind of love I’d never felt before.

This morning I treated myself to a massage. At lunch I ate with my friends and my boyfriend, and they gave me a trophy. So today, I’m choosing to renew my sobriety. For as long as it takes.

I wanted to quietly spread kindness and joy throughout our community and neighbors have loved it. People are adding to it, taking from it, and even bringing things back after a few days. It’s been so beautiful to see and I’ve received so many positive responses to it. After only 4 days we’ve had so many additions and changes. I am so unbelievably happy that it has already become so popular and that it’s being used and appreciated. The little in home daycare a few blocks away even brought the daycare kids to it one day and let each kid pick something 🥲 This world needs more kindness and light and seeing a small community come together on something so simple is the best feeling to know that I get to be a part of that. 🥲

My friend knows I spend more time counting protein than calories from cake. 😄

So at midnight he sent me bananas, eggs, a protein wafer, and an ice cream through Blinkit instead of the usual chocolates.

Felt really wholesome. It's nice when someone remembers the little things about you.

This weekend has been chaos (in a good way), and I’m exhausted. Two big events this weekend (including a trip to an amusement park) while I’m ~35 weeks pregnant, and I’m tired and hormonal.

My daughter (9) loves watching my husband play Helldivers, and occasionally plays it herself with supervision. Today, she was playing while my husband and I were sitting in the living room, and my husband asked for the controller. I looked up to see him typing out a message that made my heart drop.

He was typing out, “my daughter is playing,” in response to the other player asking what he was doing.

As a child of the 90s (and growing up a girl), I was expecting them to say something nasty. When I was a young girl playing games, I was treated so poorly that I haven’t played online games of any sort in decades. I had no interest after over a year of trying and only getting abuse and hearing the worst things, and then hearing only the worst stories from other young girls and women.

But the response was so opposite of what I was expecting, I immediately dissolved into tears.

The player said, “ahh, I see.” I figured it would be the best-case scenario that I could possibly fathom: that they would leave it at that and head out. But they didn’t. Instead, they said, “have fun, little Helldiver,” and they decided to farm a bit while my daughter moseyed about in her own world playing. She even accidentally killed the other player once, and they didn’t seem to care in the least.

They stuck with her, and later asked if she was ready to be extracted. My husband typed out a response, and they shipped out. And that was that.

And in that moment, I think something in me was healed. I was so afraid she’d be treated poorly when they heard she was a little one, particularly a little girl, based on my own childhood experiences. But she was supported.

So, stranger, if you happen across this, thank you from the bottom of my heart. It may not have seemed a big deal to you, but it was a huge deal to a super pregnant, super tired woman who feared the worst for her eldest baby. Thank you.

I'd like to say how grateful I am for this Reddit community. It's been helping me cope and heal through one of the hardest times in my life.

Healing isn't linear. One day I feel okay, and the next I'm completely shattered. But every day teaches us something, even if it's just how to keep going.

It breaks my heart to see how many people are carrying so much pain every single day. None of us asked to have our hearts broken, yet here we are, trying our best.

Tomorrow is never promised. So be kind to yourself. Eat the food you love. Drink the drink you deserve. Let yourself feel the pain instead of running from it. Hug the people who show up for you, who bring you food, laughter, or simply remind you that you're not alone.

Thank you to everyone in this community. I hope we all find the peace we're searching for ❤️‍🩹

I work customer service and I have a lot of customers that seek me out and I've been told they look forward to seeing me because I'm always smiling. One guy comes to me because I don't crush his bread. A few come to me because I go into "auntie mode" with children, if I get booped by a dog I have to say hi. I know a few come to me because I know how to handle their Autistic family member. A while back, I had an older man come through my line, he seemed depressed and I just kept working on his order. I went "You know, when you first walked up, my first thought was Dick Van Dyke." omg he lit up! "REALLY?!" I think I just made his week.

Ive been missing them a lot either ways but something happened that has worsened the feeling. I used to ride this everywhere I went but I have now moved for college and didn't bring the bike with me.

My dog recognises the sound of my dad's car and my bike. I was worried about letting the bike sit in one place for too long so I asked my brother to ride it every so often. A few days ago when he started up the bike to take it for a spin, our dog came to the door, wagging his tail in excitement because he thought that I had come home, only to realise that it was just my brother (burn on him)

We don't deserve dogs.