Photo by Anna Vander Stel

Not long ago, I and several members of my family were having dinner at a barbeque restaurant. After we placed our order, I noticed a mother and her young daughter having dinner together in a booth not far from us. At first, I didn’t think much of it, but then a birthday cake with lighted sparklers arrived at their table—it was the little girl’s birthday. Seeing that they were alone, I walked over to their booth and asked the little girl if she would like us to sing “Happy Birthday” to her. They looked at each other and both nodded their heads. When we started singing, several other tables joined in and when we had finished, the little girl was smiling and all aglow and the mother had tears in her eyes. It was obvious that our small gesture had made their day and the rest of us felt great for having done so. Opportunities like this come at us on a continual basis and it’s our job as caring human beings to recognize and do something about them.