She was doing what most women do like breathing. . .
she was multitasking in the most expertly way;
The only reason I came to the courtesy desk to begin with
was because I had a buy some stamps. . .
She yelled from aisle 3:
“I’ll be right there,”
and sure enough she was. . .
faster than a second’s moment
By the time she got to the register she was a little out of breath;
she welcomed me
and when she saw the smile on my face
she asked me this question:
“Who put the sunshine in your day?”
I smiled back at her and said,
“You did,”
She gave me a look over the top of her bifocals and she said,
“If you only knew. . .”
“If I only knew what,” I asked?
She told me the last four months have been horrible. . .
she lost her son to a heroin overdose
and then her father to death
even though he was her stepfather
she clarified without a pause of taking a breath,
“That was my father !”
She added as a sigh
more than a statement,
“Things haven’t been going well at home,”
and then with a look of mocked disgust added:
“. . .and to make worse somebody that was supposed to be there today to help me called off.”
She told me without knowing
M E
without knowing my role
without knowing anything about my reason
or wanting to know my place in life
She offered up,
“I told God, ‘You said you only give us what we could handle;’ I told Him that’s enough young man. . .that is enough!”
I had to ask:
“I’ve got to ask you out of just pure I curiosity did you get any response to that?”
She chuckled out,
“Well I’ve been waiting for thunder and lightning,”
and I asked her do you think that would be the response. . . ?
She told me at this point her life any response even a bad one would be good;
I looked for her name tag where it was supposed to be on her shirt and she goes,
“Oh yeah, that’s another thing I forgot. . . my name tag.”
She said,
“But you know what sometimes it’s great to be nameless.”
I told her sometimes it’s absolutely fantastic to be nameless.
She was my walking talking sermon that morning. . .
She told me when life throws lemons at you
“Why make lemonade, go for the margarita?”
She told me as I was walking away
to have a great day and thanks for listening. . .
I stopped and turned back towards her again and said,
“Listen, you just made my day 100% better not because of your sad pail of WOE, but because in spite of it all, you’re just not telling me your story, but taking care of me and everyone else. . .”
I went over to her again and extended my hand to her,
I shook her hand with both of mine,
“You’re not just dealing with a storm but a whole tsunami and you just haven’t survived it, but THRIVED IT!”
Her eyes filled up with tears;
I held her hand harder and said,
“I’ve got three words for you, WOW! YOU’RE AMAZING!”
So. . .
Who put the Sunshine in Your Day
may not be the question so much as
WILL YOU BE THE WHO BRINGING THE SUNSHINE TO SOMEONE ELSE’S DAY?
R E – F R A M I N G
sometimes is less about Form
and more about a
s h a r e d f i e l d o f v i e w. . .
Leave a Reply