Families linked by loss choose to spread kindness

A mother’s way of honoring her daughter is inspiring others who have been hit with loss. Paying it forward is helping two families who are linked by grief.

Dani Kater loved life and loved spreading joy to those around her. Tina Rubin is Dani’s mother. “She was one of those people that that was always saying, I’m sorry, or Thank you, or,” Rubin said. “You know, you never really heard her talk really negative about anyone. always, you know, trying to help others.”

Kindness ran through her veins, that is, until COVID-19 took over her body. She died in November of 2020. Dani was only 30-years-old.

However, her family keeps Dani’s memory alive by spreading acts of kindness. Most recently, they did so on November 3, which marked one year since Dani’s death.

One of those acts of kindness reached Cara Teehee in North Port at work. “There was a picture of a girl, and it said, ‘a love that touches others lasts forever. Please accept this act of kindness to honor our beloved daughter and niece, Dani Kater,'” Teehee said.

She also knows what the pain of losing a loved one suddenly can feel like. Her brother, Alex, was murdered in 2008, and her family spreads kindness in his honor. “People lose loved ones every day. And you just never know what that person that crosses your path is going through,” Teehee said.

“I think it made the day easier for me. Um, you know, knowing that you’re doing something for someone else. I think that’s how I will get through,” said Rubin.

These two families are forever linked by loss. “I think she’s looking down. And that she knows that, you know, when you’re trying to keep her memory alive by doing these things,” Rubin said.

Cara cannot accept gifts while on the job, so she spreads kindness further by passing it along to someone else. Dani’s family hopes to continue the trend in Southwest Florida and across the U.S.