On This Teen's First Day Back At School, His Life Changed Thanks To One Act

Sep 04, 2018 by apost team

Kay and Tyler Kirby originally brought young Andrew into their home when they fostered him as a baby. Born with a drug addiction and neurofibromatosis, Andrew requested special assistance and has had multiple neck and back surgeries over the years. Neurofibromatosis is a genetic condition that results in tumor growth on the spinal cord, nerves, and brain.

Because of Andrew’s health challenges that made him different than the other kids, Kay has described him as being a loner who did not have many friends over the years. In fact, since middle school, he has always sat by himself at lunch. 

Kay states that Andrew is a good boy with a big heart, and those who take the time to get to know him often love him. Unfortunately, his unique health conditions have discouraged others from taking the time to get to know him. Up until this year, Kay has periodically texted Andrew during his lunch break to ask if he was sitting with anyone. His answer was always that he was sitting alone. While he told her that he was fine looking at his phone all alone, this was a statement that caused tremendous grief for Kay. 

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Andrew is now 16-years-old, and he recently started his junior year at Boiling Springs High School. When Kay picked Andrew up from his first day of school this year, he immediately and excitedly told her that he did not eat alone that day. A group of student council members asked him to join them for lunch. More than that, they invited three other students who regularly sat alone to join them.

They also have extended their kindness by inviting these students to sit with them in the days ahead.

In addition to the public recognition, Kay and Tyler met with the student council members personally to tell them how meaningful their gesture was. This may have been a rather small gesture on their part, but it has had a huge and even life-changing impact on Andrew. This is more than a simple gesture because the group has actually befriended Andrew. They have included him on a group text and invited him to hang out together outside of school. 

This kindness has been publicly recognized, but many other people regularly show random acts of kindness in small and large ways that go largely unnoticed. Leave a comment about some of your own experiences with kindness to others in the space below.