The Girl with a Big Smile

Are we talking about smile again?! You’re probably thinking. 

“Yes,” that’s my final answer. We are talking about smile for the second time in a row. If you could only see me now, you’ll know that I am smiling, because, indeed, there is a lot about smile to write about!

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Abbie is a big girl now.  In fact, she just graduated with a university degree, cum laude. That means, she graduated with honors. She had been an outstanding student all the way through – from kindergarten to college.

At her graduation, she told her mom, “Thank you so much for being there for me. All I ever wanted was to make you proud.”

Guess what her proud mom said? She said nothing, she simply smiled. Wearing her biggest smile yet, Abbie’s mom looked up to the heavens with wet eyes.

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If you met Abbie, she’d always have a big, ready smile for you.

When she was in her mom’s tummy, the Lord took her father home to heaven. So Abbie never knew what her dad looked like in person. All she had were photos shown to her by her mom, and most of all, stories – stories of how brave and caring her father was, even while he was sick in bed.

“It was your father who chose your name Abigail. It was his first and only choice,” Abbie’s mother would tell her.

Abigail is a character in the Bible who is best known for being brave and caring. She eventually became a wife of King David.

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“Do you ever miss your father?” I asked Abbie once, when she was a little girl.

She replied, “Not really. I know all about him from my mom. When I think of him, I think of good things. And my mom also said I have so many dads in all of my uncles.”

Her answer made me smile. I remember it now because it is All Souls’ Day in the Philippines – the time of the year when we remember the lives of our loved ones who are no longer with us.

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Many kids have been going around Trick-or-Treating in lovely costumes since October 31. Some are still on the streets. At the end of the day, they are exhausted, but happy that they have a lot of goodies to last them weeks, or maybe months.

This activity, which we copied from other countries a few years ago, and has since become a yearly thing, does not make me smile.

Although some kids are dressed beautifully and are cute in their costumes, I feel that we are missing the significance of these two days.

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A good thing there’s Abbie. She reminds me about what Nov. 1 and 2 are all about. She always says, “I remember my dad’s life, not his death.”

Many of us have lost a loved one at some point in our lives. So we grieve and lose our smiles. But if we think hard about and follow what Abbie says, we will get our smiles back: Remember  our loved ones’ lives, not their death.

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Today, let’s pause to remember the lives of the people dear to us who are now with God.

Let’s thank the Lord for sharing them with us, even if only for a short while.

Let’s remember how they cared for us and loved us.

Let’s remember the wonderful things they said and did. 

Let’s remember the life they lived.

Most of all, let’s remember their smiles.

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Today, then, is a good time to smile like Abbie does. So say, “cheese” not only for the camera but for everyone around you. Get in touch with me through my blogsite: www.leavesofgrace.blog spot.com or email me at: [email protected].