There are bad neighbors and then there are, well, really bad neighbors. But one, in particular, took it upon themselves to write a nasty note about one woman’s yard. However, the message didn’t exactly have the effect they intended.
Randa Ragland was shocked to find a note in her mail criticizing the state of her home and yard.
The note was anonymous and the writer had no qualms about cutting her down to size.
“Your eyesore is affecting the resale value of our homes,” said the note — among other things. “DO BETTER!!!”
Ragland’s focus hasn’t exactly been on the state of her home at the moment.
She’s putting all her time and energy into her 3-year-old son Jaxen.
“He’s autistic and he’s non-verbal,” Ragland said. “But, a few days before his third birthday is when he was diagnosed with neuroblastoma stage four cancer.”
Jaxen is only 3, but he’s already been in the hospital 20 times and undergone seven surgeries. It’s a lot for a little boy to endure and for a mom to watch.
Ragland was upset by the note, but as she said, she just didn’t have the time or energy to dwell on it.
What she did do was post a picture of it on Facebook.
“My whole point was to show people you don’t know what somebody’s going through,” she said. “Kindness goes such a long way. Gratitude goes such a long way.”
But neither she nor the anonymous note-sender expected the response. The next day, Ragland found a lawn service dispatched to her home. And they were far from the last to show up. Next came volunteers to tidy her home, shoppers to buy supplies for her and her children, and more.
Every single person who showed up to her door was a stranger.
But that didn’t stop them from lending a hand.
One of the volunteers, Joey Harding, had a personal reason for jumping into the action. He had lost his 6-year-old daughter LuLu to the same cancer Jaxen had only two weeks earlier.
“Look at this!” said Harding. “This is love. This is love for a stranger. We don’t even know these people. Words can’t describe what this means to me right now. It’s helping me. It’s helping me cope with losing my daughter. To help another family in need.”
The volunteers gave themselves the name “Jaxen’s Army for Justice.”
And they’re determined to keep helping Ragland’s family. They’ve set up a GoFundMe to assist with paying for Jaxen’s medical bills.
“I’m in amazement. I’m still in shock,” Ragland said. “I don’t have a large family. My mom is gone, my dad is gone, my brother is gone, so this means a lot.”
We may never know who sent the note to Ragland, but with any luck, they’ve learned the lesson she hoped to impart — never judge someone, especially when you don’t know what they’re going through.
As for Ragland and Jaxen, they’ve learned they’re surrounded by a community of friends.
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