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Reddit, who is the nicest person you know, and what did life hand them that you think they absolutely deserved?
- My wife's uncle Bert is, hands-down, the kindest human being I have ever known. He lived next to the same elderly couple for two decades, right? At one point the husband passed, but the wife would go on to live for another dozen years and, for the entirety of that time, Bert moved Heaven and Earth to look after her, doing things like plowing her driveway (NOT a euphemism/lol) in the winter, fixing her furnace when it went down, etc... But, just like he is with everyone else in his life, he never asked (or, expected) anything in return. So, one day, Bert's elderly neighbor lady passes away. A few weeks later, her (very!) elderly mother (she was nearly 100) also passes away. A few weeks after *that*, Bert gets contacted by a lawyer and told that his next door neighbor had left him her house, her mother's house, and the nearly 100 acres of land that lay behind it. That was nearly 20 years ago and, for the entirety of that time, he has used both residences to house people who find themselves down on their luck. Furthermore, he's never sold off or developed any of that land, though he could surely make a fortune, even if he were to sell of even a tiny portion of it. Honestly, the guy is an honest, real-deal saint.
— OhStanza
- Grew up down the street from a really awesome couple who did a lot to keep kids off the street and out of trouble. Turned their garage into a cool game room/hang out area for the neighborhood kids. Were always having dinners and events for local teens like basketball, smash bros tournaments, board game nights, etc. I don’t know how many kids they kept out of trouble, but they were just awesome people.
2 years ago their house burned to the ground in an electrical fire. They’re older now, in their 70s I’d guess? Anyway, they were known and loved in the community. The local churches and schools all had fund raisers for them and they were able to buy and move into a pretty nice house still in that original neighborhood and furnish it with new furniture!
— Misdirected_Colors
- One of my closest friends recently got accepted into medical school. Ever since we first met in HS, I've never heard her say a single bad thing about anyone. It's actually a running joke in our friend group how nice she is. She loves and really cherishes her family and friends and will drop whatever she's doing to help someone in need. She's gonna be a great doctor some day.
— mivhax
- Someone from work who helped me during the hardest time of my life, was recently blessed with a baby and then a promotion, in the same week. He was longing for both for a long time. I've never felt happier for another person in my life.
— I_protect
- My childhood friend and hero. He has a wonderful wife (girl next door as kids) beautiful children, and successful business they started. Nobody I know is more generous, meek, and supportive. I've never met a person with a bad thing to say about him in 20 years.
— jaysavage88
- My nephew is an awesome young man. He is the oldest of 3 kids. His younger sister is on the autism spectrum and his little brother has hemophilia. Both get a lot of attention from their parents but my nephew has never complained. He gave up a lot in his young life to help out his siblings. Ruined vacations because his sister had a meltdown, sleepovers that ended early because his brother had to go to the hospital, skipping out on fun activities because he didn't think it was fair that his brother couldn't do it, volunteering his time with his sister's social group, cheering on his little brother at swim meets because his brother finally found a sport that he can play. He's a great person and is currently ranked second in his senior class. He applied for early admission to his dream school and has a good shot of getting in. I'm just so proud and impressed. His parents made it clear that he never had to do any of this. He did it because that is who he is.
— Mannings4head
- My aunt.
She never wanted children. She was happy living on her own and being a spinster.
My mom was an alcoholic and it got so bad that she couldn't take care of my 3 sisters and I. So, my aunt took us in. All 4 of us.
She gave up her life to raise us so we could survive.
I am eternally grateful for the opportunities she's given me. She's helped me buy my car, she's helped me with school, she's been a powerhouse of a person in my life and without her I'd be on drugs or in foster care.
Her sacrifice made my life possible.
— itsonlyliz
- My sister, on my 7th birthday i wanted a bunch of these power ranger action figurines, take in mind these where fucking expensive. She didn't have a job and actually managed to fork over about €60 for them. When she sees them she thinks that i deserve more than those small figurines. She buys me the game that i will forever, for sentimental reasons, love. Super mario galaxy. I was fucking ungratefull when she got me it, right now im cringing about it.
Now she has a job and can buy practically every thing she wants.
She deserves it.
EDIT: forgot to say she's an awesome sister. Thank you for reminding me u/itsnotkaos
— E3itscool
- My sister is one of the nicest people I know. She will drop everything to help you if you have a problem and will put everyone else before herself. For years, she was working an IT job she hated for $12 an hour with a boss that blamed her when anything went wrong. Recently, after a lot of searching, she got a job that pays her double the wage, with benefits, and she has a team she loves working with. I'm really happy for her!
— bitterlyyours
- My "uncle" (dad's former coworker and good friend.)
This man has been more family to us than our real family has ever been (family never really liked us.) My mom had periods of mental breakdowns (she was diagnosed with severe anxiety and bi-polar.) She would have plenty of mood swings and although she left us alone to protect us, it was still a scary sight to see my mom do a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde on us (this was before the diagnosis.) Where the family was supposed to be there to help her in her darkest hours, my "uncle" would not only check up on my mom and the rest of us to make sure we were okay, but he also insisted on taking us (my brother and I) over to his place after he gets off work to pick up the kids after school to give my mom a break while we hung out with him and his family. He had ZERO obligation to do this, but he insisted and we all thank him for that.
Although I hated going over there at first (I found that family way too weird), after getting comfortable with them, I eventually looked forward to going to uncle's house because I eventually learned to love the family! The reason why I found them too weird was because they were way too cheerful for my comfort zone and I didn't know such people existed, but they're living proof. "Aunty" (his wife) is just a sweetheart and always looked forward to having us over and their three children were just as amazing (I still talk to one of them regularly.) Since we started hanging out over there, the kids insisted that we joined in whatever they were doing whether it was playing N64 with his son, go to their neighborhood park with all three, hell even play dollies with the two daughters (I was "Krazy Taxi Driver Ken" with my modded Jeep) just to name a few.
As stated earlier, I gave that family hell at first because I did not want to be there (I was an ASS!) Despite being an ass to the poor family, it was amazing how calm uncle and aunty were with me! When it was just uncle tried to calm my crazy ass, he never got upset and he never showed frustration. He always kept it cool and had a calm voice the entire process. He had so much patience with me that it eventually paid off because not only did I feel bad for treating him like an ass, but he slowly became one of my favorite people to hang out with.
He always treated me and my brother like his own. He would take interest in our lives and got involved in our schoolwork and make sure we got good grades. He also understood that we found "family sing-along time" with Disney tapes in the family's minivan awkward (I would bury my head by the window to 'disappear'), so just for us boys, he made sure to only play "grown up" music (I think he was relieved with all honesty. LOL.) I discovered so much music and got into music thanks to that man. Sade, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Elton John, LL Cool J, a lot of UK content (he's from England), indie bands, etc. (this man owned a 1,000+ CD's and cassettes and kept him in his study.) Just to be silly, he played Tiny Tim on the side and I was surprisingly okay with that because it wasn't Veggie Tales nor was it Disney. He's the reason why I ended up growing a huge vinyl and CD collection of my own (yes, I still buy CD's in 2017. Lol!) Him and aunty even got me a Walkman for my birthday with an AM/FM option because of my love for music (I still have it.) His true test on how much he loved us came when some racist bitch at the park pointed at me and told me she didn't want us playing with her kids and that we were bad kids (a 6 and 7 year old boy) because "my kind" are now "destroying" her precious neighborhood (I'm Latino and the family is white.) She threatened HOA on him for "harboring illegals" but nothing came of it.
The one thing I loved about the man was that he was always cheerful... cheerful to the point where you'd think the dude lived in Disneyland, but whatever, it was one of my favorite personalities of the guy. He was just a silly man all around. There was never a dull moment in that house. On top of silly comments he would make to make everyone in the house laugh, he knew how to play an accordion and would whip it out when he felt extra silly. I always looked forward to seeing him take out good ol' "Bob Excelsior," his prized accordion, because for some reason, things sounded funnier with an instrument. Anyways, that house was always full of laughter and happiness and I think the reason why he insisted on taking my brother and I over to his house is because he wanted to share the love and happiness with other people and he wanted to give us a sense of what having an extended family looked like by treating us as one of his relatives and I thank him a lot for that. The years I've spent in that house were one of the most happiest years of my life. Aside from the first time jitters I mentioned earlier, I don't ever recall a time where I said I never wanted to go to that house. Looking back, I laugh at the thought that my dad was friends with this guy because he has an opposite personality from uncle (my dad is quiet and reserved) but in the end, I'm glad he became friends with him. Thanks for asking this question. I haven't thought of uncle and aunty in a long time and just writing this brought back lots of memories.
Damn, I miss that family. Excuse me. I'm going to make a phone call and see how he and the misses are doing.
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EDIT: To answer the second part of the question, he deserved pretty much everything that life handed him. Nice house (paid off), well respected by the community, beautiful wife of 33 years (and counting), 3 amazing offspring, and grandfather of 3 grandsons. On top of that, he just retired last month and has been enjoying his free time. Generally speaking, he managed to live a life that reflected who he was as a person and I couldn't be happier that this happened to a person like him.
— MADDOGCA
- Miss Winifred Laney - the elderly lady who lived across the street from us - taught me to love animals and how to care for them. She loved her beautiful black & white cat, Tompkins - her sole companion.
After Miss Laney died, my parents and I made sure Tompkins got a loving home because that was the one thing dearest to her heart before she passed on.
— Back2Bach
- My grandfather-in-law had several daughters. One wanted to go to a community college, so he offered to drive her. She had a friend who wanted to go as well. So he picked her up as well. His daughter dropped the class. So for the rest of the class he drove his daughter's friend to school every day, even though his daughter wasn't going.
— AgentElman
- Played football against this giant dude in high school. He was a year or two older than me.
At first glance you’re kinda scared at how big this guy is in person... and then You see him in the halls and he’s always smiling. he’s super fucking friendly. Talked to him a few times. Very casual. But he was always humble. Like abnormally humble.
He wasn’t born here I think , his roots are from Jamaica im pretty sure. And I think he had plans to be a doctor but..
Couple years later....
he’s playing for the fucking Detroit Lions.
LAKEN. WE ALL SEE YOU AND VERY PROUD MY DUDE!
— ClitoriaEuphoria
- My son. When he was 8 I got divorced and got custody. His mother never saw him again. He is in his thirties now, she just died this year. I raised him by myself and he did not have an easy life growing up and yet he is the nicest person I know. Donates time and money to charity, always assumes that others have the best intentions, works hard and is raising a wonderful family. I have no idea how he managed it.
— lespaulstrat2