Be The Light: Of Ladybugs, Love & A Clever Little Girl

/ Ally Bean

I’ve joined in a yearlong monthly event called We Are The World Blogfest.  

The purpose of this event is to highlight positive news stories, presenting them on your blog on the last Friday of the month.

This being the last Friday of April, I have a story to share with you, my gentle readers. 

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THE NEWS STORY:  

Did you know that in the Jewish religion when visiting a loved one’s grave it’s customary to leave a stone on the grave?  These stones are called visitation stones.

I wasn’t aware of this tradition until I read about a girl who took it upon herself, in response to cemetery vandalism, to create some pretty hand-painted lady bug and heart visitation stones.

The complete story [found here with video] tells of 6-year-old Ayel’s response upon learning that vandals had damaged her great-great-great-grandmother’s tombstone in a St. Louis cemetery.  Ayel decided to paint some stones for herself, and for all the other families who had experienced this vandalism, as a way of showing kindness to the living– and respect to the deceased.

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MY COMMENTARY:

If you took the time to watch the video, then you’ve already realized that Ayel is cuter than the bee’s knees.  I mean, how could you not love her?

That smile!

But beyond that fact I like this kid’s spirit.  She understands what happened in the cemetery and that it was a lousy thing for anyone to do.  However, instead of ignoring what happened or giving in to helplessness, she’s opted for kindness.

Ayel intuitively gets what many adults have forgotten.  She understands that creating something healing and meaningful doesn’t have to be complicated.  It just has to come from the heart.

Which, as anyone with even just an ounce of kindness in their soul knows, is a great place to start.

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58 thoughts on “Be The Light: Of Ladybugs, Love & A Clever Little Girl”

    • bobcabkings, she sure did! The point of this monthly blogfest is to find a positive news story that demonstrates that there’s good in the world. I don’t know when I’ve seen a child who embodies this idea more. Love her!

      Liked by 1 person

  4. This custom is new to me. I think it is lovely. And I think the idea of handpainting beautiful or special stones to leave at the gravesite is inspired and inspiring.

    Kindness is a commodity which only grows when shared. Ayel personifies this truth.

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    • nance, I’d never heard of visitation stones, but now that I have I want to make them a part of my tradition, too. Ayel’s kind spirit is my inspiration– on many levels.

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  5. I love it. I was reading up on other happy stories this morning as well and came across a pizza chain in Philly which allows you to pre-pay for a slice at $1 and then stick a post-it on the wall which can be claimed later by anyone who is hungry and in need. Seems like a wonderful practice to me!

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  6. I love that there was no mention of money, either. She is doing it for love and the parents are letting her. Such cute little rocks too! Thanks for finding and sharing this, Ally! Happy Friday to you.

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    • Good point, Janet. I hadn’t thought of the possible money angle to this story. I agree that the rocks are so cute, and the joy of it all, when faced with tragedy, made my heart sing. Happy weekend to you. 🙂

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  9. Too sweet! Thanks, Ally.

    I knew about visitation stones + I like rocks + I like to paint + I love ladybugs . . . so, tell me, why didn’t I think of doing this???

    Oh, right, because a video featuring me would not have been as cute as a ladybug!

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  10. Oh, the kindness of children! This little girl has a place in God’s heart that I hope will grow as she becomes a wonderful, caring adult. Thanks for sharing this beautiful story, Ally, and participating in #WATWB

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    • Julie Flanders, Ayel is cute as can be, isn’t she? And with such a smart idea about how to deal with the destruction. Let the children lead the way! Nice to meet you, too. Thanks for stopping by to comment.

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    • Janis, I felt the same way. Ayel did something to help– and I liked that about her so much. She reminded that small gestures are the essence of kindness. Pity more news stories don’t focus on that point of view.

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    • Gail, you said it! Sharing love when faced with senseless destruction is such a mature response to the situation. Then to make the pretty rocks is such a perfectly little girl response. So much going on in Ayel.

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    • Andrew, I appreciate you thinking of me for this award… but I no longer do bloggy award things. I stopped a few years ago when I revamped my blog template + purpose. I will, of course, checkout what you wrote & what all the other nominees write. Sounds like fun, just not for me. 🙂

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