She’s Still There
Some who have read A Legacy of Faith for some length of time may (or may not) remember something I wrote in June of 2022. The title was A Universal Language. That “universal language” was/is a smile and a wave.
We were in Cookeville, Tennessee during June of 2022 because our second grandson was graduating from Cookeville High School. Because of the policy of the school, seniors did not have to attend classes quite as long as the rest of the students. For some reason, our soon-to-be-graduate did not readily volunteer to provide the morning transportation for his younger sister as had been the case the rest of the year, so I volunteered for that task.
During those morning trips to the high school, I saw a friendly lady smiling and waving (and doing her best to actually make eye contact) with every passenger of every vehicle that pulled onto the school’s property. As you may remember if you read my earlier post, I took the time one morning to stop and talk with her. When I talked with her, I found out what I had already assumed. She was not an employee of the school. Nobody in the school system or anywhere else was paying her to do what she was doing.
I further learned that she did not live anywhere close to the school. In fact, she lives about as far away from the school as possible and still be located within the city limits of Cookeville. If you know anything about Cookeville, you may know that it takes more than a little time and effort to get from the south end to the north end. This is especially true when people are trying to get to school. The reason for this lady doing what she does on her own time and on her own “dime” seems to be that she is just making an attempt to brighten the day for people (most of whom she doesn’t even know) and get their day off to a good start.
Recently, we were in Cookeville again for one night. Now that her former “chauffeur” is in college, and since her mom has to make the north to south trip to get to the school where she teaches, I volunteered again to take my granddaughter to school on the morning we were there. I wondered as I approached the school property if the smiling, waving lady would be there. As I turned into the property, I did not see her.
As I prepared to drop off my passenger, I remembered that there are two main entrances into that property and that I had learned that the lady alternated between the two. For that reason, I decided to leave via the other entrance/exit. There she was.
She was still smiling, still waving, and still trying to, in her own unique way, help people begin their day on a positive note. Unlike the last time I saw her, she was too far away and too busy for me to stop and have a conversation with her, but it was nice to see her.
Earlier, as I was taking our granddaughter to school, I had asked her if the lady was still smiling and waving. What I found interesting was how she described the lady. My granddaughter said, “She is so sweet.”
I have found out since that conversation that she has never talked to the lady. Her assessment of the lady is due to merely watching her “in action.”
As I drove away from the school to pick Donna up and head for home, I “issued a challenge” to myself. I may not always succeed and it might take a while for me to develop the skill necessary to meet that challenge, but here it is:
If a lady whose name I don’t even know can brighten the day for hundreds of people (there are over 2,000 students at that school) merely by smiling and waving, surely I can find some small way to help at least one person have a better day every day than might have otherwise been the case.
Would you like to join me in trying to do that? I kind of think that the world would be a much more pleasant place if more of us would try to brighten the day for others.
AUTHOR: Jim Faughn
