Thank you for smiling at me today. Your smile reassured me; told me in a small way that you were OK and that we were OK. Your smile let me know that you could see I needed feedback; you saw beyond yourself to see me. I remember the first time you smiled at me. That smile came at just the right moment, when I was tired and wondering if I could be a good mom to you as a baby. After so many years, I'm still often tired and wondering. I appreciate even more now than then, the reassurance that your smile brings to me.
Technically, smiling is ordinary and easy to do. But in actuality, smiling is extraordinary and difficult. It is hard to smile when you're tired, hungry, angry, lonely, overwhelmed, bored, hurting, or confused. Yet, you chose to smile your one-of-a-kind smile.
As we leave the Liturgical Season of Ordinary Time to enter Lent this Ash Wednesday, it seems fitting to consider the act of ordinary smiling and how something ordinary can be full of purpose, meaning, and love. Consider your extraordinary smile as proof!
Thank you for smiling at me today. Can you see me smiling back at you? :)
Love,
Mom
