Goodness returns, and sometimes in the most unexpected ways. A story from life

– Oh, why do you spend so much time with me, Tanya? You come to visit the old lady almost every day and help her out! My dear, what would I do without you! You are so kind and beautiful! I don’t understand, Tanya, how people don’t see it, that you’re always alone! – Valentyna Andriyivna was saying as she opened the door. Every time Tanya came to visit, she was so happy and thanked God for sending her such an assistant. For Tanya, she is a strange old woman, but she became a real sunshine in Valentina Andreyevna’s life when she moved into the neighboring apartment about six months ago.

Valentina Andreyevna slowly and carefully crosses the corridor to go to the kitchen and treat Tanya to tea. The old lady is afraid to hurry anymore; a month ago, she lost her footing and fell in the corridor. She couldn’t get up on her own, and luckily there was a phone in her robe pocket, so Tanya had to make a call. The girl took off work and immediately came to help. Valentina Andreyevna gave her a spare key, but Tanya doesn’t open the door herself except for that one time. It’s not nice, but it’s uncomfortable to invade one’s personal space like that.

– “Valentina Andreevna, why are you praising me so much? I’m just being a good neighbor to you. And I don’t know why things don’t work out in my life. Everything is a mess, and my mother still periodically adds fuel to the fire. She still can’t forget that I didn’t want to get married when a “decent man” was courting me, “in a position of authority”. I didn’t have a heart for him, and that was that.

This is what we used to talk about in the kitchen when Tanya came home from work and brought Valentina Andreyevna food. Sometimes Tanya would help her cook, and they would have dinner together. Valentyna Andriiivna entertained with funny stories, and she had many in her life, as she had worked as a teacher for over 35 years. With children, she said, you never get bored. God didn’t give her any children of her own, but she and her husband lived together for 53 years, and he passed away last year… Valentyna Andriyivna was very much affected by her husband’s death. Almost every time she talks to him, she remembers him with such love in her eyes that it makes Tanya’s own tears well up.

One morning, Tanya was getting ready for work and decided to water the houseplants on her kitchen windowsill before she left. Outside the window, she caught a glimpse of a car pulling up to their driveway. A young man got out, holding a large bouquet of daisies and a cake. As Tanya was leaving her apartment, the man rang the doorbell next door to Valentina Andreevna.

– “Oh, Ihor, is that you?” the old neighbor peered at the visitor, squinting. “I didn’t recognize you at first! “I’m so glad to see you, come in! Tanya, this is Igor, come in too, let’s have some tea together,” the neighbor invited the girl.

– “Thank you, Valentina Andreevna, but I have to go to work, I’ll come over in the evening,” Tanya said, smiling cordially. She thought to herself that this Igor must be one of her neighbor’s distant relatives. Seeing the happiness on Valentina Andreyevna’s face, she was happy for her that she was not completely alone.

In the evening, Tanya ran to the store to buy bread and milk and came to visit her neighbor. Valentina Andreyevna met her with joy.

– “Have you seen how Ihor is? He found out that I had given up, I can barely walk, so he found time to come, even though he is always working. This is my student, from the last graduation, and I was his class teacher just before he retired. You know, he asked about you, Tanya. He said who is this nice girl with kind eyes who lives next door. I told him how much you help me, that you are my outlet.

Tanya was embarrassed by her neighbor’s words. And Valentina Andreevna was already planning to invite her to tea on Saturday, just when Igor promised to visit.

The man looked at Tanya with such a gentle and warm gaze, kept laughing at her jokes and treating her to cake. The three of them drank tea in such a pleasant company on Saturdays. Tanya was now looking forward to the weekend even more. Ihor won her heart with his sincerity and kindness to his lonely teacher. There was something so close about him, and he and Tanya often continued each other’s sentences, seeming to understand each other at a glance. Ihor redid all the men’s work in Valentina Andriyivna’s apartment: he tightened some faucets, fixed a kitchen cabinet door that was starting to sag. He also offered to help Tanya, because she hadn’t fully settled into her new apartment since moving in.

Valentina Andreyevna looked at them and kept praying that everything would work out well for the couple. And then one day, during a regular tea party together, Igor asked Tanya for her hand in marriage. It was an unexpected but welcome joy for the girl. Valentina Andreyevna blessed them with a happy and lasting marriage.

In 1.5 years, a daughter appeared in the new happy family, they named her Valya. With the birth of this wonderful girl, Valentina Andreyevna has even more reasons to rejoice. Her legs began to obey her, and she even went down to the yard to take the baby for a walk.

Tanya blossomed from her husband’s sincere love. And he can’t stop admiring her:

– “Where did you come from, Tanya, as if from another planet? You have so much goodness and tenderness in you. How lucky I was to meet you. I have to admit to you that, according to Valentina Andreyevna’s stories, before I met you, I thought you were applying for an apartment for a lonely old lady. After talking to you, I realized that you are not capable of doing that!

– You’ll laugh, Igor, but I suspected you of doing the same thing. Then I saw you with flowers at Valentina Andreyevna’s door and thought that a relative had suddenly appeared when the old lady felt ill. And then I saw you as an altruist like me.

Happiness in life is not always brought only by great deeds. Sometimes a simple smile, a friendly word, showing care and helping others warms the soul. Maybe someone needs these acts of kindness at this moment. For some, it will be a breath of fresh air, and for others it will give them hope for the best.