She's a force of nature, this one. She's 83 and if those legs don't allow her to move as quickly as they once did, she's lost none of her ability to command a battalion of troops on a mission months in the planning.
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Cecelia is cooking for 90 guests today. It's her annual fundraiser for the children's hospital and the three-course Italian feast in the clubroom of her retirement village has been produced with her own hands and organised with an astonishing force of will.
She's barking orders at underlings who, younger than her, are already sweating. You wonder what she must have been like in her prime. A born general. Probably hatched an early escape from the womb to take charge.
It's Sunday. The outside world is consumed with conflict and cruelty. But in a hot kitchen kindness is going about its usual unsung work. Lasagna trays cram the oven. Pots of rich sauce simmer on the stove. Grandchildren have been commandeered as servers and waiters. Daughters have been instructed to play songs in strict order - waltzes, serenades and, of course, a little Elvis. Fellow residents obediently shuffle chairs and decorate tables.
It's 40 bucks a head and Cecelia will raise almost $4000. Watching her marshalling her troops reminds you that genuine kindness never feels the need to announce itself to the world. It doesn't seek headlines or viral attention on social media. It just gets on with the job.
Must be the weekend for it. The day before Cecelia's feast, another elderly woman relates a further act of kindness.
Emma is 86, the mother of my oldest friend. Like Cecelia she's also an Italian immigrant. Her world is a blur of pain, her legs and hips betraying her. She grimaces when she sits, winces when she stands. Some days the pain is in places even the morphine can't reach.
But the welling in her eyes is prompted by something else - the memory of a random act of kindness decades earlier that Emma has never forgotten.
She and her husband Guido were new to Australia in the early 1960s. Their English was as broken as their bank account. Emma needed an operation and with no family support and few friends, Guido took unpaid leave from work to look after their two small babies during his wife's hospital stay.
A nurse caring for her grew concerned about her lack of visitors. Emma explained they could not afford a car and it was impossible for her husband to make the journey with two small children on the local public transport system.
On the day she was to be discharged the nurse asked Emma how she would get home. When Emma said she would catch a bus, the nurse said she and her husband would drive her. Emma protested. But the nurse insisted, concerned her recovering patient had not received a single visitor and fearing her broken English might be disguising larger problems at home.
Emma tears up at the memory. "When they took me home the nurse said she would come inside. She found my husband bathing our babies and singing to them. When she saw that I had this loving husband who was so happy to have me home she started crying."
The nurse pressed a 10-pound note in Emma's hand - the equivalent today of almost $400. "I kept saying I couldn't take her money. But she said she was so happy to know I was safe with my family that she wanted to help."
An elderly woman insists on cooking lunch for 90 people to raise money for sick children. Another recalls being a frightened young mother helped by a stranger more than half a century earlier.
Kindness and selfless generosity isn't something you hear a lot about in a world fraught with war, threatened by hyperinflation and increasingly dominated by narcissists and self-promoters.
But last weekend it could be found simmering on a stovetop and in the memory of much-needed money being pressed into a reluctant hand.
Don't believe it's gone out of fashion. It's still there. We just don't recognise it as often because genuine kindness boasts a quality rare for these times.
It never craves acknowledgement.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Have you been the recipient of an act of kindness? Are we less kind and sympathetic than in the past? Do you volunteer or raise money for charity? Email us: echidna@theechidna.com.au
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THEY SAID IT: "No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted." - Aesop
YOU SAID IT: With diesel in short supply thanks to the war in the Gulf, eyes are on China, which has been steadily building its electric truck and bus ]fleet.
Chris, who sells farm machinery, asks: "How do you power the tractors and harvesters, 700hp plus, to provide the products to go into the electric trucks?" In an interview with The Australian Farmer, executive director of the Tractor and Machinery Association of Australia Gary Northover says electrification of the agricultural sector is between five and 10 years away. "I do believe, however, it's still worth starting to have a meaningful conversation now."
David from Warrnambool writes: "On a recent trip to WA it was noticeable that all the electric vehicle charging stations were powered by diesel." We checked this claim, which went viral on social media a couple of years ago, which has been debunked. Remote EV chargers are solar and battery powered with diesel generators as backup.
"Logically, I agree with what you are saying - go electric and make it easier to do that," writes Sue. "Governments should lead the way in this - the ACT bus fleet is well underway, for example, as is light rail - but I would like to see a little more tolerance for the privately owned diesel vehicles, a longer period for them to be phased out over, which would be less of a problem if the big transporters and mining vehicles were electric. After all, governments and big companies are constantly upgrading their equipment and can start making this change more easily."
Annie loves her BYD EV but range anxiety still looms large. "Past governments at all levels have totally failed us - in my regional area servos are still being built without chargers. Plus chargers differ -some I've been unable to use with my BYD. I have six apps on my phone for the different companies - and Tesla has recently installed new superchargers which can't be used for all EVs. It's a mess."
"There should be more to encourage city drivers those living in large towns where travelling for amenities isn't too far," writes Vena. "But for rural dwellers .. the range of an EV is not far enough and charging stations are scarce so we have no option but to rely on fuel whether diesel or petrol."
Patricia writes: "Someone in my family, home and car owner, would love to have an EV. Seriously considered it last year. Since then, the RBA has struck with an iron fist, raised interest rates again and again. Mortgages have gone up, on top of other cost of living increases. On the one hand, financially, this person is breathing a sigh of relief that they didn't commit to buying an EV. On the other hand, they are deeply disappointed that they were not able to purchase an EV at this time."
