Brighten Your Day

I always take a birthday trip to Florida to see my sister and we usually do fun, special, usually adventurous things.

But this year was different because while I was there I got bronchitis so we just did low-key stuff - which was fine by me. I was just glad to spend time with my sister.

But, I noticed during dinner a couple of days before I was to head back home she seemed down in the dumps, which was rare for her and I knew something was up.

After we left my mom's house and my sister told my mom "I want to show Terri the beach before she leaves," I asked her what was wrong.

She told me nothing but as we walked toward the beach she told me some things.

And then by the time we got to the pier she told me more and more.

One of the things she was upset about was about my birthday this year.

"We didn't do anything special," she cried.

I hugged her tight.

"You don't have to be perfect," I told her. "You're the best sister anyone could have. I always brag about you. We did a lot of things. It's not your fault. I got sick. That's not your fault."

She cried.

"Look!" she suddenly exclaimed.

Right before the storm was supposed to hit we saw a rainbow above the clouds over the beach.

We hugged again and talked.

We were facing a different direction this time.

"Now look!"

The rainbow had now stretched all the way across the beach.

If we had gone to see the stand-up comedian that we'd planned on going to see that I was too sick to go to we would've missed out on that moment. As much as I love stand-up comedy, I'm glad we were there.

Nature often delivers perfection at the best moments when we need it most.