On October 3rd, my brother ended his 4 month battle with cancer. Even though I knew his death was coming, it is still a shock to the system when you realize, it’s over. It’s done. He really isn’t here on Earth anymore.

I remember walking around looking at people living their lives. These people didn’t know my brother. They didn’t know he used make me laugh. They didn’t know he let me live in his house while I went to university for close to nothing. They didn’t know he put the fear of God into a boy who was bullying me when I was 7, who then stopped.

I wanted to yell and scream at the top of my lungs, “DON’T YOU KNOW SOMEONE REALLY AMAZING ISN’T HERE ANYMORE? DO YOU REALIZE WE HAVE LOST SOMEONE WITH A BIG HEART AND A KIND SOUL? DON’T YOU FEEL WHAT WE’VE LOST?”

And, then I realized that whenever anyone dies and leaves this Earth, there will always be someone who feels that way about the departed. And, when you or I die, someone will feel that way about us.

We forget that we make a difference to others in the simplest of ways. I remember my brother taking me to the store and buying me a pop or candy bar on the weekends with his own money. I remember the time I was trying to learn how to do leather craft and made him a belt buckle that was truly poorly done and he wore it proudly telling people “my little sister made me this!”. I remember when he came to my first softball game and cheered me on. These aren’t remarkable things, but they made a remarkable contribution to my life and happiness.

That’s how special we are. We don’t know how special because kindness never seems overly remarkable, yet it quite possibly is our greatest gift. When did we forget the contribution of simple kindness, and how do we raise the value so that it is never dismissed as nothing again?

Please take time to notice how you do matter to someone in this life. Please acknowledge how your kindness really is a priceless gift and will be remembered after you are gone. And, please tell those who have done you a simple act of kindness how that means something. Let’s start raising the value of this immensely undervalued gift and recognize that at the end of the day…or a life…it will always and forever be remembered.