For those who are grieving on Mother's Day, or for those who have a friend who is grieving, small acts of kindness can offer big comfort.

I have been quiet this summer. I searched for the words to share my experience with you, but they got stuck in my head, stilling my hands on the keys. There were no words that seemed worthy, only an ocean of feelings, with me floating, a tiny speck on the surface, at the mercy of the current. But every morning the invisible words appear again, dressed up as feelings, and they beat at my door. They pound my heart open. They ask me to write it. In June, my younger brother died.

Some of life's most beautiful moments happen when we are at our most vulnerable. As a hospice volunteer, I have the honor of being with people during some of those most tender times. A few weeks ago, I found myself sitting with a man who I had never met, and who had no family in the area. He was in his last hours of life, and there was a group of us, trained in keeping vigil, who were taking turns in his quiet company so he did not have to die alone. I sat in amazement, knowi