Kenmore side by side refrigerator and freezer is...

Question

I woke up opened the freezer and some of the vegetables were thawing and ice was getting wet. The compressor did not go on. The lights worked fine in the fridg and the freezer. After emtpying the contents, I decided to clean the fridg. When I swiped the rag across the controls (which are located on the top-most portion of the front perimeter), the compressor kicked on and acheived proper temperature before the day ended. The Kenmore is about 7 years old. Do I have a problem? Did it fix itself?