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Leaving room for unexpected surprises...like ice cream cones!

Yesterday, my son and I were driving when we saw a veteran hobbling down the street in a light rain. He suddenly stopped and, supporting himself on his cane with one hand, saluted an American flag with the other. For that moment he stood tall and straight and strong. And then just like that, the spell was broken and the boy who served and gave the most perfect salute I have ever seen returned to a gray-haired man who seemed to struggle to even put one foot in front of the other, walking so. slowly. down the street. I pulled over a block away in the first open spot I could find and said to my son, "I'm going to go ask if I can buy him a cup of coffee or a sandwich." The man smiled at me as I approached. Returning his smile I said, "Sir, may I please buy you a cup of coffee or some lunch?" He laughed a bit and said, "I really appreciate the offer, but I'm OK. I'm just out to stretch my legs and maybe I'll get an ice cream cone later on." (Remember, is was a damp, dreary day, lightly raining at this time.) "I saw you salute the flag back there and I have to say, (my voice starting to break) it really touched me," I said. "Thank you so much for your service." "Oh, you're welcome. I just did what needed to be done. But I lost a lot of friends through the years," he said, wiping a tear. "I'm sorry, for some reason I'm having a hard time with it all lately." We walked slowly on until we reached my car, chatting about his time in the Navy, our families, ice cream, and then I said, "This is me," pointing to my car. "Thanks again for the offer and love that boy hard," he said pointing to my son in the passenger seat. "Oh, there's no shortage of that," I said and we smiled at each other one last time. I've been thinking a lot about that hero and the short time we shared yesterday afternoon...about community, about living, about our nation. I challenge myself each day to be present and open. Some days are roaring successes and other days I fall short. But because of the effort, my life has been blessed with all sorts of unexpected surprises, with new relationships, unplanned experiences, random knowledge gained, collections of discovered oddities, and too many memories to count. To think, it could have all been missed if I started each day with my head down... I know I'm not the only one feeling tense these days. We live in a pretty divided nation, the news and social media are full of nothing but negativity (more than ever as we count down to election day), our calendars are full, we have sick loved ones, summer is gone, the days are shorter and colder... It's easy to let the negativity creep in...and it's easy to spread it when it does. But yesterday's experience served as a reminder for me to keep my head up and my face turned towards the sun (figuratively...it's been awfully dreary here lately). Because you know what? The world really is full of good. So much goodness! We only need look for it! What if we all took the time to live, to truly share our lives with our families, with our friends, with our community and beyond? What if, instead of signing our kids up for yet another activity, we spent time together really making memories? What if, instead of staring at our devices at night, we spent more time with our partners sharing the simple things that made us originally fall in love (back before said devices were invented)? What if, instead of posting that political thing online, we talked to people in line at the grocery store and actively worked on building and reinforcing our communities? Let's put down the newspapers, the phones, the calendars, and turn away from the negativity. Let's lean into the good in our lives. Let's take time for ourselves and share it with those we love. Let's leave space in our lives for unexpected surprises. Let's go for that walk in the rain to stretch our legs and maybe get an ice cream cone. xo, Shannon

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