Hope

For some people, the holidays are full of happy events, pleasant family and great friends. For others, this is the first Christmas alone or the end of a year that seemed to go on forever. Painful is just not an adequate word to describe what these folks are going through.

Several years ago I was shopping during the holidays. My mind was occupied with thoughts of my parents and my mother’s journey into Alzheimer’s. I pushed my cart into the checkout line behind an older man to wait my turn. “You’d be pretty if you smiled!” he said boisterously. I couldn’t say a word, which was a good thing, because I was thinking, “You’d look better if I ran over your face a few times with my cart!” (“If you can’t say anything nice…”) This man’s insensitivity taught me the value of being kind to strangers.

For those of you who are hurting, I hope strangers show you kindness and your soul is blessed with peaceful moments. And you don’t have to smile.