Marina Miller found herself texting with a stranger at 5 a.m.
It was a conversation that veered into funny, with a fellow Greater Victoria resident a little frazzled and anxious, travelling with family on what should be the start of a fabulous Mexico vacation.
Except Kirsten Marten had forgotten to bring her youngest son’s medication with her.
Marten threw up a ‘hail Mary’ on social media, posting her dilemma on a mom’s group in hopes someone might be headed their way that day or the next.
Miller, home in Victoria’s West Shore saw the post. Being awake that early isn’t unusual for Miller, who became a mom at 25 when she took legal charge and became a parent to her five half-siblings. Marten’s bright and bold plea stood out and Miller realized she had the skills to help.
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She found and purchased the required medication, and arranged to have it waiting at the hotel when Marten’s family arrived in Mexico to start their holiday. They return this week, but Marten was so grateful and overwhelmed she thanked her new acquaintance publicly, in the same format she reached out in the first place.
Miller’s day had been busy and the 5 a.m. adventure forgotten, until she got on social media that evening and found an effusive thank you.
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“Marina Miller – someone I’ve never met, let alone spoken to, reached out immediately and in a matter of minutes not only had me sorted out but had the medicine arrive at our hotel when we arrived and paid for it all herself! Her act of kindness left this exhausted and overwhelmed mom welling and filled up with love and set our trip off on the right foot,” her post read in part.
The online kudos earned hearts, love and awe in the comment section.
“People shouldn’t be shocked at what I did,” Miller told Black Press Media. “If you can be helpful, be helpful and if you can’t, stand back for someone who can.”
Life is experiences and hers meant she knew exactly how to handle the situation.
“We have to, as people, understand it’s action that makes change,” she said.
Little acts of kindness – and there are many in Miller’s life – can have a ripple effect. When you help someone, you never know who they’re connected to, who else it might impact now and in the future. They’re not about recognition, she said.
“We live in a time when we want to be recognized for every good thing. We don’t need recognition, we should just work on doing what’s right. I’d do that thing whether you’re looking at me or not.”
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