Today, on our holiday vacation, I was in London with my mom and forgot my handbag, with my phone and train ticket on the ferry. My mom told me that I had little to no chance of getting it back. But when we went to the ferry Transit office a few hours later we found the bag with everything inside and not one thing out of place. Whoever returned it put a note in the side pocket of my bag that said, "Happy holidays." MMT

Today, I went Christmas shopping for some last minute gifts. I was at Walmart waiting in line with a woman in front of me who was buying 10 large boxes of the same grey sweat shirt and sweat pants. After hearing that an authorization code was needed in order to ring up a bulk order like this, a man behind me asked why she was buying so many of the same items. The checkout clerk said, "She's buying all of these to donate to the homeless shelter across the street." MMT

Today, just because it is Christmas day, my dad decided to pay for the order of car behind of us at Taco Bell. Turns out the husband and wife in the car could barely afford what they ordered and my dad paying for their order made their Christmas. We know because they caught up with us at the red light in front of the restaurant, in tears, and thanked us. MMT

Today, my daughters acted impulsively. My children do not have a lot of money, but they received money from their grandmother for Christmas. One of our close friends of the family was recently laid off and they are expecting their 2nd child. They didn't have money for gifts this year. My daughters decided to give the money they received anonymously to our friends. MMT

Today, I am the only mixed race student in a class of 32 students. This afternoon our substitute teacher casually made a negative racial remark to me. The boy who sits in front of me challenged her and got sent outside. The teacher told us that if anybody else had a problem then they should also leave. The whole class stood up and walked out. A few minutes later the principal got involved and asked the substitute teacher to leave the school property. MMT

Today, it’s been about two years since my ex-step-father tried to set my mom on fire, leaving her with burn scars on her face. Every week my little brother and I anonymously write a letter to her saying how we think she’s the most beautiful woman in the world (the truth), and we put it in the mailbox. She doesn't know it's us. But she cries when she opens them, and she just told us over dinner that the letters she’s been receiving are helping her look up on days when she feels down. MMT

Today, my friend who is diagnosed with Lymphoma put pics up on Facebook showing off her newly shaved head with a big smile on her face and her boyfriend proudly hugging her tight! Despite her illness, she loves life and is so positive about the whole thing. There are so many high school students who complain about "drama" and nonsense while this 17 year old girl is content and loving life while having cancer. Her smile and her life story MMT.

Today, in light of my recent depression, I spent some quiet time thinking and praying. I thought about my brother who died 11 years ago and asked him to help me through his presence, which feels like it has lessened over the years. I then spoke to a friend who told me to do something for myself. This afternoon I took my friend's advice and attended a yoga class, the first song played was Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin, my brother’s favorite song, that was also played at his funeral. Hearing it when I needed it MMT.

Today, I got an email from this girl in one of my classes asking me if I needed notes for the class because she noticed that I'm usually late. I'm in a wheelchair and can't move quickly across campus when it's busy. Sometimes it takes me a long time to get to class. This girl and I never really spoke more than a few words to each other. If more people had the ability to notice when other people need help, even if they don't necessarily ask, this world be a better place. Her kindness today MMT.

Today, with the impending holiday season upon us, we had a guest speaker at our high school who discussed the correlation between the holidays and depression, and also went into detail about suicide awareness. A couple kids in the front row of our class were being obnoxious and said they don’t believe in depression as a mental illness. Then suddenly one of the more popular guys at our school got up, walked in front of them, rolled up his sleeves to show his scars, and told the kids to “shut it!” Courage in the face of ignorance MMT.

Today, my fellow classmates who I’m not even friends with MMT. Yesterday the nastiest bully in our school, who happens to be in one of my classes, picked on me for wearing a pink polo shirt. Today 14 out of my 32 classmates from that class wore pink, and 9 of them were guys. MMT

Today, at the JFK airport a group of 15 soldiers got off the plane near the terminal where I was working. They were pretty quiet and minding their own business when everyone nearby – easily 100+ strangers - started clapping for them and thanking them. The soldiers just stood there with their mouths open and huge smiles on their faces. Good soldiers and thankful people MMT.

Today, I’m in the drum line for my school band and played at a graduation ceremony that is taking place nearly 5 months early. Only one boy was graduating today, early. The reason? This boy’s dad has terminal cancer and isn’t going to live more than another 4 to 6 weeks. Our school’s principal arranged this special ceremony so his dad could see him graduate. MMT

Today, I helped make food for the homeless. The man I was giving the sandwich to said he didn’t want it. I asked why and he pointed to his friend behind him and said, “I want the birthday boy here to have two sandwiches on his special day. It’s the only gift I have to give.” His friend was elated. People who have nothing and still give MMT.

Today, my friend’s dad died unexpectedly of cardiac arrest a few hours before our varsity district championship game. My friend is the team captain. The whole team rushed to the hospital. Our coach was considering forfeiting the game, but my friend said “no.” She wanted to play. All the players wore yellow tape with her dad’s initials. I’ve never seen our team play so hard. And we won our school’s first championship. MMT

Today, I walked into the kitchen and saw the most beautiful sight. My 18 year old daughter was eating breakfast. She's been struggling with anorexia for almost three years now. Her strength and will to recover MMT the year ahead is going to be beautiful.

Today, my boyfriend and I went out to dinner; he was in his Air Force uniform because he had just gotten off work. An older gentleman came over to our table and said, "I want to thank you and your wife for your service, if you haven't already paid I would like to pay for your meal." We had already paid so he handed my boyfriend a fifty dollar bill and said, “Well take each other out to dinner tomorrow night too then. You’ve earned it.” MMT

Today, my sister and I took our younger brother to the fair for his 8th birthday. He was so excited to play all the fair games and win tickets to buy a life-size stuffed bear. But because he has Down ’s Syndrome, and lacks good eye-hand coordination, he won very few tickets and couldn’t get much at all with the few tickets he earned. A group of kids nearby overheard us say it was his birthday, and that he didn’t win enough tickets. They all gave us the 870 tickets they earned that day and all of them wished him happy birthday. And he’s holding on to that stuffed bear right this second. MMT

Today, I lost my wallet and was stranded 90 miles away from home with no money. I was in hysterics outside a Tokyo train station. A man came up to me and asked me what was wrong. He was a policeman; he gave me the money to get home without any hesitation. It was the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me. MMT

Today, it’s been five full years since I almost took my life. I was standing on the side of a bridge, feet on the edge about to take a leap forward. I didn’t because an old friend I hadn’t seen in ages saw me and pulled over. He calmed me down and took me to his house where we talked for almost eight hours straight. Then he helped be sign up to a clinic to get the help I needed. David, I owe you my life. Thank you for every second I now have. What did for me will forever MMT.