A Sugar 'Hi'

I thought I had a pretty good idea.

If my 5 year old granddaughter could run errands with me without asking for anything, I would finish our marathon by taking her to a store where she could pick one thing, and I would buy it for her. Literally, anything in the store could be hers. The deal was on, and the store was The Dollar Tree. See, that is a pretty good idea, right?

When we arrived, the day was already three quarters over, so we were running on fairly low steam. Or, at least I was. I only began to realize how big of a deal this was for her as she painstakingly went down row after row, picking up one thing, studying it, putting it back down only to begin studying the next possible treasure. Every aisle seemed to get longer and longer. First play dough. Next, a twirly skirt. Then, a fake barbie doll. On to puzzles and plastic makeup. (And, this was just the toy aisle.) Over to the books, the real make-up, bubble soap, and movie candy. I was beginning to realize we were going to spend more time in this store than we had spent in all the others combined. And, suggestions were useless; they actually just made it worse.

So, when Taylor finally looked up at me with beaming eyes, I knew we had hit the target. Here we come, check-out line! Standing with great pride and excitement, my sweet little love held the prized birdhouse kit in one hand, and the dollar in the other. Our joy was complete!

Until...

Taylor noticed the small, kind-looking boy smiling at her as he stood with his mother directly in front of us in the checkout line. He held a very large, rainbow-colored lollipop in his hand. Taylor smiled back. I wondered if he and his mom had taken as long to find his prize as we had just taken to find ours.

Before I could take a step forward, Taylor stepped up to the young mother, politely asked her where the lollipop could be found, dropped the birdhouse in the basket below the counter and headed to the candy aisle. Watching her walk toward me with the large rainbow-colored swirl of sugar in her hand, I knew I was watching human interaction in full form. She had walked right past the lollipop when it had not been in someone else's hand. But, the desire to have what others have is strong, especially when a kind smile accompanies it. Magnetism to have, or do, or be, what we see modeled before us is a mighty force.

You have that same force within you - a force that others see and can emulate. That smile erased all other gifts that day.

Give someone a smile of yours.

For them, it will be just like having a rainbow-colored lollipop to carry home.