In Pinson, Alabama, mom Randa Ragland received an anonymous letter in her mailbox from a neighbor. It was a nasty letter that read: “Neighbor – Please take pride and straighten up the exterior of your house. Your eyesore is affecting the resale value of our homes. Who wants to buy a house near you and look at that daily? It does not take that much effort. All you have to do is give a [expletive]! Do better!!!”
Well, Randa was upset by the harsh letter. The author of it obviously did not know what Randa was dealing with at her home. Randa has five children, and one of them, 3-year-old Jaxen, is autistic and had stage 4 cancer. He had already spent a lot of time in the hospital, undergoing several surgeries.
Randa posted the letter she received on social media, explaining what she was dealing with. “My whole point,” she said afterwards, “was to show people you don’t know what somebody’s going through. Kindness goes such a long way. Gratitude goes such a long way.”
So because she posted about it, neighbors and other strangers started working together to help her in just about any way they could, even though none of them knew her.
A lawn company donated its grass-cutting services. A father volunteered because it meant a lot to him. He had just lost his own 6-year-old daughter two weeks before from the very same thing Randa’s son was going through.
Says the grieving father: “Words can’t describe what this means to me right now. It’s helping me. It’s helping me cope with losing my daughter. To help another family in need.”
Many of the volunteers have vowed to stay with Randa to help her through this difficult time in her life. And now Randa has lots of friends. But what’s more important is that she knows they truly care.
