Kindness

By Leilah Grace

As I walked out of the post office I realized I may have mailed the very last resupply box of the First Scouting Hike of the APT. I thought I would be sad, instead I broke out into a smile and felt the excitement course through my body. We were so close to being done! What has had countless obstacles and change of trajectories is nearly complete. Thousands of miles hiked, a hundred boxes mailed with resupply, countless texts, phone calls, and emails coordinating, communicating, and scrambling are soon to be ending. There will be more scouting hikes, more resupply boxes, and as always phone calls, texts, and emails, but there will never be another first scouting hike. My heart lifted, my spirits soared and I celebrate the moment of victory!

It was mailing that box that made me smile and be filled with joy. Just a short week ago we celebrated Rue connecting his footsteps in Omak, WA. While we celebrated virtually that day and evening, there was not the joy found in me as when I mailed that box. In APT fashion the box was packed with less than an hour’s notice and rushed to the post office to make it there prior to closing. A handwritten letter scribbled out and enclosed, just another form of connection from the front country to the back country. I sit here reflecting, wondering if there will be another box to send for this trip. There may yet be 1 more, and if not I know I will have fulfilled my promise: to keep Rue fed and supplied the length of this trip. It was a promise I made to myself, him, and the project after that frightful phone call in January 2020 where he was out of food and money.

With that promise I could have never imagined the journey I would take, the impact that promise would have on me, on my family. Boxes were filled with food, a handwritten letter (or 2) from me, and sometimes drawings and tokens from my children. My garage shelves became a home of tubs filled with food, clothing, gear, and trinkets. My laundry housed a box that we used as a staging box in the interim. With the garage shelves filled with food, the boxes of merchandise had no where to go but my bedroom. Today the garage continues to house the food and gear, while my bedroom contains the boxes of merchandise. A constant beautiful reminder of the work I love, the community I hold dearly in my heart, and the unexpected friendship that blossomed from an Instagram connection.

A small act of kindness can have a very large impact on someone else.

— Christian Taylor, Olympic Gold Medalist Track & Field