Great Company and Many Smiles
In Response to Dancing Elephants prompt 2 of 52
Smile. Its contagious.
The best smiles can come from family, friends, and even strangers. You just never know when a smile sneaks into your life. This summer I had the opportunity to go and visit a wonderful friend in California, Dr. Preeti Singh. Some of my experiences from that trip had been shared in articles on Medium and some have still been waiting to emerge.
Some stories just need a little more time and I have to have the inspiration and the time to write them as well. The sticker I saved from the restaurant is called One Plus where Dr. Preeti Singh and I went for Coffee one afternoon after visiting the Botanical gardens in Berkley has been sitting on my desk for months now. I keep looking at it for memories and I like the colorful bird-like figure it makes me smile.
Sometimes life steps in and I don’t always have the time or the energy to write about all the stories I would like to write about, yet sooner or later the ones that need to be written will be written.
It’s been almost four months since my visit with Dr. Preeti Singh in California, yet it feels like yesterday some days other days it feels like it’s been years.
Things I remember from that lovely day are visiting a beautiful botanical garden, having a lovely lunch and coffee with my friend, and going to a museum after. There were a lot of smiles that day amongst the beautiful flowers and trees in the garden. The most important thing was to spend time together with a friend, precious moments that go by quickly. Lovely conversations walk and singing together.
In the afternoon we found ourselves in the coffee place One Plus we ordered some unique coffees with dandelion flavor. The long wait allowed us just to sit, rest, and have a conversation while observing the baristas running around filling orders. We shared many wonderful morning and afternoon tea sessions.
Our Pomegranate tea moments still make me smile. Lovely moments with Dr. Preeti Singh.
Making random strangers smile is also fun. I love to make smile exchanges with people on the street, and in parks, and love when children smile and laugh with me. One of my favorite random smiles was a few years back before the pandemic. I was picking up some roses for a family occasion. They were beautiful. An older lady in front of me at the grocery store commented on how beautiful the roses are. She smiled. It looked like she would love to receive some precious flowers from someone. She paid for her groceries and left.
Luckily for me, she was not walking very fast as I knew immediately what I need to do. After I paid for my flowers, I went outside looking for her. I found her close by loading groceries into her car. I stopped by next to her and handed her a single rose from the ones I just purchased. I just told her I saw how much she liked them, and I would love it if she accepted one. She did, she smiled again, and we both smiled and started tearing up too. Emotional moments of kindness with a smile. I have not told this story to anyone before. She had a very kind and loving smile.
I think moments when we smile and when we can make others smile are precious moments that need to be treasured.
This weeks prompt from Dr. Preeti Singh. What does a smile means to you?
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