Lola Aurelia and the Power of Kindness and Social Media

Photo by Reddie Js (Reposted from Facebook)

Netizens have sympathized with this image of Lola Aurelia with a note on her back stating that a certain Luis Matias is missing. Lolo Luis is Lola Aurelia's husband. It turns out, he had been missing for two weeks prior to the day this picture by Reddie Js went viral.

For the entire day of November 22, 2011, my news feed was filled with the picture. The news was such a hit that it reached national media attention. The evening broadcasts featured the story with the good news that Lolo Matias was found near a train station in Quirino. Lola Aurelia and Lolo Matias were reunited, and as they say, it was the best news for that day.

This story is overwhelming.

Lola Aurelia and her dedication to find her husband through her own meager way... I will no longer speak of the power of love for the picture and videos of their reunion can already speak for themselves.

The power of kindness is another story. Reddie Js, the one who took the picture, posted and asked his friends to share. This exemplifies what a simple act of kindness and concern can do. He did not know her yet he took it upon himself to, first, talk to her. She was a stranger but he talked to her and had enough compassion to ask her story. How many among us would actually stop our busy lives and do what he did? I hope all of us will emulate him and do our random - or maybe not so random - good deed everyday.

But this success story would not have been possible if not for the thousands of people who shared the post and contributed to its being viral. Time and time again, social media has proven to be useful in terms of information dissemination and, sometimes, inciting actions. We are aware how negative these social networking sites can be, but this positive side of the coin, in my opinion, far outweighs its defects.

A happy ending to a good story, it's what everybody wants and needs to hear these days.