Little things

Sometimes little things come along to brighten your day. A smile or a pleasant conversation. A cloud in the sky or a bird on your porch. One never knows where these little inspirations may come from. Yesterday I was talking with my Mother. She lives in Florida, as all self respecting New Yorkers of her generation do. She was going through some things and picked up her Mothers Bible. It had been tucked away on the back of a shelf. Opening it Mom began to read. She told me of reading names and dates written in there. Inside the front cover the presentation. Given to my Grandmother on Mothers Day 1936 by a neighbor and a friend.
My Mom went on to tell me about listening to Grandma read to her from that very Bible, in the evening, gathered around her feet with her sisters. She told me how she kept that book on her nightsand. Through the great depression when the times were tough. Through World War Two when all three of her sons went to war. She recalled Grandma holding that Bible on Christmas Eve 1949, on that night my Grandfather passed.
She sat all that evening holding that Bible and waiting for the morning. How many hours had she sat reading from that book and pouring her worries into prayer.
Mom then told me she was turning the pages and found one more thing. There pressed between sheets of waxed paper was a single flower. It had been crushed and dried over the years. A small note was included. That note said, from Little Ben,1972. That would be me. I must have sent it to Grandma for that was during my Navy days. Apparently Grandma put that flower in there all those years ago. I felt a touch, almost as though she had reached down from heaven. Now that will brighten your day.