Sharing the love and the money

How awesome is this tree trunk in the Botanic Gardens?

It was a gorgeous winter's day in Melbourne today. Blue skies, sunshine glinting off the river, people out walking and cycling, early signs of spring... I wished again that Melbourne were a man so we could get married and live happily ever after.

My friend J - who took me under his wing while I was visiting New York in May -  is planning a visit to Melbourne in the next couple of months. Yay! I'm really excited about showing off my beloved adopted hometown to him. He'll only be here for a few days, so I need to work out a list of must see/eat/do stuff to make the most of the time. 

I was looking at my tax stuff today and realised I gave nearly $1,200 to charity in the last financial year. I'd never added it up before. I feel pretty good about it, but I feel most proud of my contributions to the Smith Family's Learning for Life program, which I have mentioned here before.

I honestly believe there are few tangible things you can buy with your money that can make you feel as good as helping someone else to make a better life for themselves. One of the success stories I read about today was a girl whose family was so poor she had to wear hand-me-downs from her brothers to school. She never would have gone to university without the aid of the Smith Family and now she's doing a masters in linquistics! Wow! That's awesome.