If you ask around in Midland, you’ll probably have heard the name Kristen Calkins.
She worked at the MidMichigan Medical Center for years and was known by staff and patients alike as one of their most caring employees.
But in August of 2017, Kristen received a devastating diagnosis of breast cancer.
“Right to the very end, that was her concern. How were we all going to handle the situation,” said Karen Calkins, Kristen’s mother-in-law.
For a heart wrenching nine-and-a-half months, Kristen fought bravely against her cancer.
But when she passed away in June, her sister Kayla came up with an unexpected idea.
“Everyone came up to us and started telling us stories about how she impacted them and the kind things that she did for them and we just thought, she’s gone but her kindness doesn’t have to be,” Kayla said.
So Kayla went online and started a Facebook group in Kristen’s name, promoting good deeds toward others, like paying for a meal or offering a helping hand.
Kayla said ever since Kristen passed, people on Facebook have been spreading acts of kindness, calling them random acts of Kristen.
“The first one we did, we took her girls, and we just went around town and just left things for people to find,” Kayla said. “That’s all I thought it would be, just taking them out and doing something positive in the name of their mom and then it just kind of took off and everybody started doing their own which was really, really nice.”
The Facebook page has grown from a small group in Midland to one that reaches across Mid-Michigan.
For Kristen’s family, it serves as a reminder that her kind spirit lives on.
“It’s just growing on its own, people want to do whatever they can so that she’s not forgotten,” Karen said.
Source: WNEM