A Penticton family honoured their nana on the anniversary of her death by performing a random act of kindness on Thursday morning.
Kristin Maier said her mother, Kathy Castle, passed away on June 20, 2013, after a valiant but short-lived battle with lung cancer.
“The day that we buried my mom was my sister’s due date, so it was just very fast, nine months,” she told Global News.
Castle was only 54. A charitable woman, she taught her family about the importance of kindness and being community minded.
“She volunteered for everything. She taught our family that you give to the community and you make yourself a part of the community,” Maier said.
So every year, on the anniversary of Castle’s passing, the family performs a random act of kindness. It began with handing out yellow flowers at the Penticton Farmers’ Market.
“We handed out 100 yellow flowers because my mom said ‘Look for me in yellow. When you see a yellow butterfly or a yellow flower, that is me and I’m thinking of you.”
Castle also worked as a government secretary for many years, so her family decided to honour secretaries with lottery tickets, flowers and chocolates another year.
“So we wanted to recognize those women that work so hard and are underappreciated.”
Castle always enjoyed her morning cup of joe, so this year Maier and her two daughters decided to give $100 to a Tim Hortons in Penticton to distribute free coffee, along with a poster.
It reads “Our nana was a very special lady! She was a wonderful nana, a devoted mother, and a loving wife. It is very important to us that our nana’s name and her generous spirit are remembered.”
The poster goes on to say “Nana loved her morning coffee! This year, to honour Nana, we would like to buy you a cup of coffee!”
Customers who received the free coffee and letter were overwhelmed by the gesture, with one woman writing on Facebook “to Rowyn and Sydney Maier, I drink my coffee with gratitude and send love to your family and especially to your Nana! I shall also pass this forward sometime today, and share this sweet memory with someone else.”