Being Guardian Angels for Each Other, Part 1 of 2

Today, we are going to introduce a few heart-warming stories that show how people give unconditionally in tough times. Ms. Donna LaMonaca is a supervisory officer working in the Johnstown-Cambria County Airport for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in Pennsylvania, USA. She has worked for the federal agency for 18 years and been recognized by her employer for helping the elderly to make COVID-19 vaccine appointments. Ms. LaMonaca volunteered her time to help the elderly book vaccine appointments by sacrificing her sleep. She has also used her off days to take the elderly to get vaccinated, with her 13-year-old son Geno tagging along to help fill out the required forms.

The following story shows that we should always do whatever we can to help each other. Mitchell Couch is a resident of Lemoore, California, USA. When the pandemic forced schools to shift to distance learning, he noticed that many kids, including his own four, were using the kitchen table for online learning, which interfered with family time due to the learning materials being scattered all over. As an experienced carpenter for 20 years, he decided to build desks for his kids so that they each had their own place to study and store their books and supplies. After a few hours, he made two desks and posted them on social media. He then started to get feedback and questions from the community about those desks, so much so that he made a short video on YouTube with step-by-step instructions to teach people how to build the desk themselves. His small action inspired more people.

It is often said that we’re blessed more when we give rather than when we receive. Supreme Master Ching Hai teaches Her disciples to follow this principle. “When you give to people who are truly needy, you'll feel so good, and it will be just like receiving a gift yourself. You will feel the happiness of that person. So his happiness becomes yours. But I'm even happier than he is. Do you know why? It's because I can feel his happiness, plus I can feel my own happiness in giving. So I have two kinds of happiness. So I'm happier than him. The one who gives is happier than the one who receives. It's just like this.”