Shining Moments

Mar 20, 2013

The smallest thing you do

lives on.

That smile you give

the simplest of gestures

from holding a door

to picking up someone’s newspaper for them

It matters

and lives on long after the moment.

We so often forget this.

You and I

in the busyness of life.

But as I look at the blooming daffodils waving in the breeze

I remember a time long ago.

I was in college

more than six hours from our home.

Working hard on my studies

but missing home.

Although the signs of spring encouraged my heart

I was facing a huge mountain of work

and wondering how in the world I would get everything done in time.

Lost in these thoughts one morning

I walked into my dorm and noticed a glass jar holding a bunch of blooming daffodils.

The beauty of it drew me

and I stepped over to the desk to look at them more closely.

How I wish I had the words to describe their loveliness.

It was as if their smiling faces were all looking up at me

saying, “You can do it.”

My eyes wandered down to a small piece of paper attached to the glass.

Instantly I blushed with mixed delight and embarrassment as I read my name.

They were for me!

Yes, a very kind young man placed them there that morning

and today more than forty years later

I still remember.

He probably never knew

how greatly that act impacted my life.

It was so unexpected..

caught me completely my surprise

and so simple a deed.

One glass jar with the Fredonia insignia on its side

and a handful of blooming daffodils in water.

That memory lives on

warming my heart today.

Don’t ever let yourself believe that what you do has little value.

More than likely you do not know.

Maybe 40 years from today someone will be remembering a kind act of yours.

 

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