Magic in the Most Unlikely of Places

Sometimes it’s easy to be discouraged by human beings. Too many stories abound of aggression, hatred, and destruction. Meanwhile, countless acts of kindness play out every day that go unnoticed. One such occurrence happened to my aunt.

You couldn’t find a nicer, sweeter person than my Aunt Ann who lives in Florida. Pretty, silver-haired and in her 80s, she’s warm and friendly to all. One recent early afternoon, Ann drove to her local supermarket. Finding a parking space, she noticed a woman standing nearby. She looked to be in her 70s, with salt-and-pepper gray hair. As is her custom, Ann smiled at her. After parking, Ann was gathering her things to go in the store when a knock sounded on her window.

To her surprise, it was the lady with the salt-and-pepper hair. She was holding up two yellow roses. Assuming she was trying to sell them, Ann shook her head. But the woman persisted. Ann rolled down her window, perplexed.

“I bought a dozen roses but was given two more by accident,” the woman said. “Of all the people I passed today, you were the only one who smiled at me. I want you to have these.”

Touched and surprised, Ann accepted the flowers.

They came at a nice time. Lately, my aunt had been living with the frustration and disruption of renovating her condo after a massive water leak. This unsightly mess in her beautiful home would take months to fix and meantime, she could only live in a small area. This woman’s kind gesture meant a lot.

That day Ann walked into the store feeling the need to “pay this kindness forward.” At one point she saw a woman struggling with her shopping cart and stepped in to help.

“That woman’s flowers put me in the mood to give kindness to someone else,” said Ann. “I saw how sometimes a smile is all it takes.”

When I heard Ann’s story, I couldn’t help remembering how her late husband Dave used to buy roses frequently for Ann from that very store.

“Every week for 25 years he bought me a bouquet of peach blooms, my favorite,” she said. When he died 15 years ago, the roses stopped. Part of me wondered if Dave in heaven had something to do with this seemingly random act, two days after Ann’s birthday, it turns out. We’ll never know.

Whatever the case, I’m glad my aunt had a touch of sweetness that day, wherever it came from. It’s nice to believe magic can happen even in the most unlikely of places.

 

Has magic happened to you when you least expected it? Comments are always welcome. If you’d like to receive posts by email, just press here.