Our daughter Tova, of blessed memory, would have turned 39 years old this coming week. It occurred to me recently that it has been a while since I’ve written about her. That certainly doesn’t mean she hasn’t been on my mind. Not a day goes by where something doesn’t bring her to heart, or where I don’t feel the quiet ache of her absence. Time may soften the sharpest edges of losing a child, but it never truly heals that space in your heart.

One of Tova’s absolute favorite phrases was simple: “It’s the little things…”

I was recently looking through old posts and found at least five times on Facebook where she used those exact words. To Tova, small acts mattered far more than grand gestures. Throughout her life, she performed countless tiny acts of kindness with her huge heart for friends, students, and family—and the warmth those small acts created always seemed to multiply.

Tova taught us that some of the most inspiring acts of kindness are the ones that will never make the evening news because they happen quietly, one person at a time.

In memory of our precious daughter Tova, I wanted to share a few true stories recounted by others that remind me so much of how she viewed the world. They illustrate how a seemingly small gesture can quietly change someone’s life:

The Janitor Who Kept Buying Lunch

An elementary school custodian in Indiana noticed a student who regularly “forgot” his lunch. Rather than embarrass him, the custodian quietly paid for the boy’s meal whenever it happened. Years later, that student revealed that his family had been........

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