This was Hazel’s favorite chair.
My daughter bought it from Hazel at a yard sale.
Just months before she died.
Did she know?
Today, as my daughter applied a new coat of paint,
Hazel was on her mind.
And in her heart.
Hazel always said hello,
And goodbye.
From her back porch, in the chair.
With her small black dog.
Maybe a small quip about the weather,
A brief, cheerful exchange.
These simple moments made a lasting impression.
“Working on it has made me so sentimental about the whole situation. I’m a young woman, decades younger than her with no familial ties or history beyond these greetings but I think about her all the time. It makes me happy to remember her.”
Isn’t that beautiful?
Just a smile and a greeting.
An acknowledgment.
I see you.
Nothing more.
A brief, human, face-to-face connection.
She didn’t like a Facebook post.
Or send an emoticon.
Hazel taught me a lesson.
She reminded me how we complicate what it takes to make a difference.
Or maybe we forget.
Eye contact.
A smile.
Presence.
Breaking from our busyness and distraction, how simple it is to leave a small impression of happiness in a human heart.
And on the world.
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