Sadly, a man named Matthew Jackson from California recently lost his life in a car accident at the age of 28. Obviously, his family was devastated by the news, but when word of his death spread, they learned that just before his tragic end he was out there in the world making a real difference in people’s lives. The day before his fatal accident, Jackson was at a Trader Joe’s store when he encountered a mother and her son who forgot their debit card when they went to check out, and didn’t have any cash to cover the bill.
According to the mother, Jamie-Lynne Knighten, “Matthew steps up to me and said ‘May I?’ and I said ‘May you what?’ He said ‘May I take care of your groceries?’ I told him ‘No,’ and that it was a very large purchase. He really wanted too. He said, ‘You just have to promise that you’ll do it for somebody else,'” Knighten told ABC News.
“How does somebody do something so kind and so generous and then have something so tragic happen to them the very next day? The fact that he was gone and I couldn’t give him a hug or say ‘Thank you,’ it broke my heart. It was just very surreal. I can’t imagine what his family is going through, given that I only knew him for five minutes,” she added.
The bill came to $200, but Jackson said that he didn’t mind so long she paid the kindness forward to another person sometime.
Matthew’s mom LeeAnn Krymow had no clue about her son’s good deed but was incredibly proud to hear what he had done when she was contacted by Knighten after his death.
“I knew he had a kind heart towards people, but hearing all these stories goes beyond what I knew. What was very odd to me was that it [the act of kindness] happened on my birthday and when he got home that night he must have called me right after he got home from Trader Joe’s, wishing me a ‘Happy Birthday.’ It was late and I was already in bed, so I didn’t take the call. I still regret not taking the call,” she said.
“[The next day] I sent him a picture, blowing him a kiss and that was it. I never heard back. Matthew was always special to me. He was really intelligent, good looking…he was every girl’s prince charming. He was known for being a gentleman. He loved people. He had a heart for people and so much compassion,” she added.
In memory of Matthew Jackson and his kind heart, Knighten is working to set up a platform where strangers can commit random acts of kindness in his honor.
The Facebook page for Matthews Legacy has already gathered over 37,500 people and will hopefully be able to create a better world in his honor, one act at a time.
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John Vibes is an author and researcher who organizes a number of large events including the Free Your Mind Conference. He also has a publishing company where he offers a censorship free platform for both fiction and non-fiction writers. You can contact him and stay connected to his work at his Facebook page. You can purchase his books, or get your own book published at his website www.JohnVibes.com.
