NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — We all have those moments where we see someone doing something for others and just want to know their story. Our crew recently spotted the good deeds of such a woman, leading us to learn what inspired her to bring her own brand of kindness to her community.
"I paint intuitively, which means it's all emotion," said artist Edie Maney, dabbing her brush into little splashes of turquoise blue and brown.
Bring a little good to the world. That's what Edie says she is meant to do.
"I'm an abstract artist," she explained. "You just see the colors."
There's a reason for this purpose.
"I started out being in social work, doing foster care and adoption," Edie said. "Some of these kids had been in three or four different foster homes. Some of them had been abused — a lot of them had been abused. It made me very sad."
Edie wanted to give life a little beauty and also a little kindness.
"'Sometimes, I feel lost,' said the boy," Edie read from a book. She held it to where a beagle could see the illustration. "See that picture?"
"'Being kind to yourself is one of the greatest kindnesses,' said the mole," she continued reading.
Edie's a familiar sight at Nashville Humane Association.
"I thought that'd be a good thing, to start reading to the animals," said Edie. "They're in there, and they're lonely, so you're giving some attention."
"See, that's a picture of a fox," Edie said, holding the book where another little dog could see it.
"I had this book that's called The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse, which I fell in love with," she said. "Because it's a book of kindness, I think that energy goes through me to them."
"The cats, they're hard to read to because they have attention deficit," Edie laughed.
Others seem to settle right in for a good story from Edie, someone who knows the world can be hard, so she brings some good to it.
"You've got those eyes, but you're not really sad, are you?" she said to another little dog. "Well, somebody's going to just love you to death."
"I think we need more kindness," said Edie. "That's how I feel about it. I'll be doing it for a long time."
