On a cold, rainy, November morning my little brother and I ran some errands around town. After walking out of one store with bell ringers at each entrance we commented on the weariness of the weather and the dedication of these volunteers to be standing in bone-cold rain raising funds for an integral organization in the community. At once, we both had the same idea. We drove to the closest gas station and fixed two large hot chocolates. We returned to the store we had just left and were on the lookout for the two men we saw earlier ringing the bells. As I pulled up to the curb my brother got out with the first cup of piping hot, hot chocolate and handed it to the man. Even though I could not hear their dialogue, I could read the man’s lips. He said to my brother as he took his hands out of the warmth of his pocket “ Thank you! Oh, this is hot!” His smile, however, said much more. We circled the lot once more to look for the other bell ringer, who had no doubt stepped inside to warm up a bit and as he emerged, my brother once again got out of the car and presented a cup of hot chocolate to the man. I share this story not to boast about our good deed, but to share the smiles of two people who made my day much warmer and brighter.
What can you do today to bring a smile to someone?
This past weekend was exciting, exhausting, and filled with anticipation. Saturday began with lunch at the hospital cafeteria with a former co-worker in honor of her birthday. Her husband contacted me earlier in the week and wanted to send her on a scavenger hunt. I was to be the messenger and to casually ask her to lunch at our favorite hospital, cause we're crazy like that. I loved seeing her open her gifts and tears roll down her face as she read the card and the events for the day from her hubby. After lunch I crammed some studying in for finals that were on Monday. Later on Saturday I watch my niece and nephew while their parents went to a company Christmas party and I worked on a video for my little brother that he used to propose to his girlfriend :) I got a call at 12:05am on Sunday from my brother asking me "watcha doin'?" and I heard Jess screaming in the background "we're engaged!" 2011 is going to be an exciting year! Sunday was spent doing a few more hours of studying and going to an engagement party in honor of Chuck and Jess. I still can't believe that my little brother is going to get married!
