I love the show Ted Lasso. While it can go over-the-top with its foul language and adult themes, I love how it depicts kindness overcoming a lot of the ugliness in our society. I’m privileged to say that I have my own personal Ted Lasso.

My wife Debbie has got to be one of the kindest people I’ve ever known. This was made apparent to me again in the airport, preparing to leave for vacation. During the couple of hours that we waited for our flight, Debbie introduced herself to several people, passed out candy, and made friends with a number of them.

At one point there was a young woman waiting at our gate asleep in her chair. They changed our gate and Debbie noticed that the woman did not wake up to hear the announcement. When Debbie didn’t see the woman in the crowd at the new gate, she decided to go back and inform the woman of the gate change. After waking up the woman and informing her of the change, the woman thanked Debbie profusely. 

One of the young men with whom Debbie was speaking shared a lot about his past and his dreams for his music career. Debbie and I were one of the first to board the plane. When this young man boarded, Debbie shouted out his name and gave him a fist bump. He was so thrilled and proclaimed, “You guys are so awesome!” 

It was amazing watching Debbie at the airport. While most people would simply isolate themselves, bury themselves in their phones, and ignore those around them, Debbie was talking to people and getting them to open up.

This is just a sampling of what I get to experience firsthand on a regular basis. Where most people choose to ignore others, Debbie chooses to engage, encourage, and love.

The tagline for the Ted Lasso show is, “Kindness makes a come back.” Frankly I have been living with kindness for over 30 years. Throughout my life, there have been a lot of people I’ve wanted to emulate – leaders, theologians, pastors. But the one person I truly hope to be like is my wife.