Brighten Your Day

Sometimes I spend so much time looking for joy that it finds me.

I got on the public transportation shuttle the other day to go to an appointment and as I boarded the shuttle, my heart sank as I saw six people on it - a full bus, something that I've never had to worry about. Now I was worried about making my appt. on time.

What I didn't know was that all these people were going to adult day care and the same driver took them daily. Among the passengers was a little girl who was brain damaged named Gabby wearing a jacket with hearts and kisses and a man in the back always made sure his phone was programmed to her favorite song by Stevie Wonder on Pandora.

This song, "You Can Feel It All Over" came out in 1977 when I was 11 and when it came out I loved it and still do. Now this man in the back started playing Gabby's song as usual and she lit up and started clapping and stomping her feet.

Her mom said, "She loves this song!" and the driver said "Sing it Gabby!" And my heart was truly touched. This went on most of the way there and it was a joy to behold. I wished that Stevie himself could be there to witness this child getting so much joy out of his song. This was a daily ritual for this group. To think that this child, even though she was non-verbal could get so much joy out of such an uplifting song just warmed my heart!

And when the driver dropped this group off, I had a totally new perspective.