I love pranks. Seeing people's raw reactions to the unexpected. I still remember the first time that the happiness I felt wasn’t reflected on my prankee’s face. I had come up with a prank I thought was genius and gotten my best friend in on it. We began our plot, slowly giving another friend hints about my best friend’s “new crush.” Little did he know, the crush was him. We’d wait until he was stumped, then reveal the “truth”. We’d let him react, laugh at his response then tell him it was a prank. He’d laugh along with us.

Let's just say our “genius plan” didn’t end well. We executed the scheme and finally got to break the news. It had all been a prank! Now he would laugh...

That wasn’t what happened. Our victim looked like just that, someone who’d taken a bullet to the heart. I’ll never forget the look of pain on his face. Somehow, our prank had hit too close to home. 

I spent the next night camping on the North Shore, out of cell service. I tried to enjoy the trip, but the whole time I was distracted. The look of hurt on my friend’s face plastered just behind my eyes.

Regret overwhelmed me; I’d been so careless. I wanted to say something--make it better, but I couldn't form an apology. Was I even worthy of being forgiven?

The next week of school started, I passed my friend a few times in the hall, never knowing what to say. He seemed fine, but there was an undertone of hurt still seeping through him, pooling in the souls of his shoes. 

Finally, I asked him if we could talk. I didn’t know what he’d say, if he’d even want to see me. But he did, and he was willing to listen. Listen as I tried to remember the apology that I’d planned out. Listen as I admitted that I’d messed up and told him I was sorry. I finished with a sigh, expecting him to walk away.

“I forgive you” ...what? He smiled, warmth radiating from his expression. The hurt hiding in his shoes was all but gone, replaced with the warm glow of kindness.

“It’s ok, we all make mistakes.”

You might be thinking that this story’s not about kindness but forgiveness. That’s where you’d be wrong. One of the greatest acts of kindness is forgiveness. After you make a mistake, the kindest thing anyone can do is forgive you.

It was no surprise that Cole won the HARRT award. Chosen from the 8th grade by his peers and teachers to be honored for his honesty, acceptance, respectfulness, responsibility, and trustworthiness -- all elements of kindness. Cole is one of the kindest people I’ve met. He forgave me easily when I didn’t think I was worthy of forgiveness. I had not been kind, but he had. If we all follow Cole’s example and forgive one person, the world will be a whole lot kinder.