Widow handing out 'cards of kindness' honoring memory of husband who was killed
[Apr. 12, 2021: Tyler Dumont]
A Taunton Massachusetts woman is growing an effort to honor her late husband’s heroism during a violent attack that claimed his life.
Each May, known as the official month of kindness in Massachusetts, Rosemary Heath hands out cards encouraging random acts of kindness.
"I wanted to find a way to just spread kindness in his name and keep his name alive," Heath said.
May 10 marks five years since Heath’s late husband, George Heath, was fatally stabbed at the Silver City Galleria.
A man with a knife walked into a Bertucci's and tried to attack a pregnant waitress while the Heath’s were having dinner. George intervened and was killed.
On the first anniversary of his death, and each year since, Rosemary has handed out small cards encouraging others to have a heart like her husband.
"Hopefully, people will use this -- and then if they don’t know the story, the person receiving it will look the story up and reuse the card and do a random act of kindness for someone else," said Heath. "And it just keeps his name going for some kind level."
The cards Heath hands out bear George’s name, in addition to his birth date and date of death.
A Batman logo, George’s favorite superhero, can be found on one side. An explanation that the card was left as a random act of kindness, done on behalf of George, can be found on the other.
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"I like it," Heath said. "It makes me smile."
Heath said that after a long past year, she feels everyone could use extra kindness and she has been trying to spread new awareness about her handout effort.
Heath said she wants to send copies of cards to anyone who wants to do good in George’s name free of charge. All people have to do is add her on Facebook.
"I firmly believe if you stop speaking their names, they die twice," Heath said. "And I don’t want to do that. I want to keep him alive."
