For 2026 - Give Love And Kindness A Reason To Rebound

Happy New Year, everyone.

Some hearts pull you in and hold you so tightly with so much kindness and love that you never want to let go. Annelise Lords

Lacia Goodall was excited and couldn't wait for the moment. Running through the names on the list that the invitations were sent to, her brows shot up when one name was missing. She scanned the list again, then called Allison.

Six rings later, she answered, saying, "She isn't invited."

"How did you know that's why I am calling?" her curiosity asks.

"I know your heart, girl, and you need to stop thinking with it," Allison states.

"She is going to be mad."

"Let her!"

"I don't understand. She was good to her."

"Yes, she was, but it meant nothing to her."

"Shouldn't we give her a choice?"

"Her kindness lured her in, but nothing rebounded."

Five days later, a loud voice disturbed their meeting. Stella Martin stormed in anger, turning her face red, matching her pantsuit, bag, and shoes. She barged in screaming, and a group of people sitting around a long oval table in the conference room, "When will your cruelty stop?"

"Not inviting you wasn't cruelty, Stella," Allison said. "You weren't invited because she no longer wanted you to be a part of her life."

"You didn't show up at her funeral," someone in the room said.

"I don't do funerals," Stella said, swaying her head.

"You don't think you should pay your respects to her for all she has done for you?" someone else asked.

"I am here, am I not?" she reminds everyone.

"At the will reading, yes," Jack Mosely, her lawyer, informs.

"You didn't attend her wake either," another person said.

"Didn't you just hear what I said about funerals?" Stella asked.

"Oh yes, we heard," Allison jumped in. "You also missed the Thanksgiving celebration service we had for her. Don't you think you owe her goodbye for all of the good she added to your life? Because maybe you are unaware, but with her death, the door closes."

"So that means I am not in her will?"

Eight pairs of eyes popped in shock, as their head swayed, staring at each other in awe mixed with rage.

"This one is mine," Allison instructed.

Stella pouts, swaying her head, strolling towards the head of the long oval table where Allison sat.

Allison stood up and dragged her up memory mountain, "She was the mother you wanted. Her kindness and love gave you a reason to come to her and stay. Your cruelty and thoughtlessness gave her an excuse to avoid you. You want people to stay in your life, you must allow Kindness to rebound!"

"What are you saying?" her rage demands.

"When she got sick, you did not attempt to visit her," Allison reminds.

"I hate hospitals and depressing environs," was her lame excuse.

"You don't think you will be in the same position one day and want others to visit you?" someone asked in anger.

She turned her head to match an image with the voice, then nodded, saying, "Whatever happens, happens."

"She didn't want your actions to add any more pain to her life, so that's why she began to ease away from you. Because that's what cruelty and thoughtlessness do to us. Of course, you are unaware because you are always the one sending them out," Allison sent the truth to her heart.

She closed her eyes, swallowed whatever was in her throat, and said, "I am sorry, she should have told me."

"Why?"

"If I had known, I would have done better," she admits.

"But that's how you live all of your life," Allison reminds her as seven more pairs of eyes bore into her.

"But no one said anything," she defends.

"So, when they all began to avoid you. Stopped inviting you to their homes and other places. Didn't want to be seen with you, your instincts didn't even wonder why?" Allison questioned.

She rolled her eyes and threw out, "I didn't think that's the reason. I thought everyone just got busy with their lives."

"Love and kindness are never too busy to rebound, grow, spread, and be shared with the ones who returned it. It's self-delivered, too, always ready when a kind heart needed it. Kindness rebounded from everyone else except you," Allison explained. "That's why everyone removed themselves from your life. You really didn't have a clue that you didn't send back the generosity you took? Your curiosity didn't even ask why?"

She fumed as her eyes flamed red to match her outfit, and her anger increased. Then she turned and stormed out.

Eight sighs circulated, and Allison nodded in relief.

"It's over," Jack said.

"Kindness should never stop flowing, because it always rebounds," Allison states.

"I agree," Jack remarks. "But it should come from the same place, not different sources."

"Then, for the New Year, let's all ensure that Kindness rebounds from all of us!"

"We will," they sang in unison.

Please, when you get kindness, allow it to rebound!

Kindness is a gift we give to ourselves and the earth whenever we share it. Annelise Lords

Thank you for reading this piece. I hope you enjoy it.