I hope this old memory of my Mom brightens your day and lightens your heart. God bless you always.

Spring and Summer are yard sale seasons in the country. They pop up faster than the dandelions in the meadows. Everyone at once seems to be selling their old stuff and everyone also seems to be buying new “old” stuff at the same time. I had a lot of experience with yard sales growing up because my Mom would often stop at them along the side of the road. She would spend a long time looking through the used clothes trying to find something to fit her growing boys while I looked in the books and records for sale hoping to get something I liked.

Most of those yard sale memories over the years have all blended together but one special one still sticks in my mind. My Mom had grabbed several shirts for me and my brothers while I had found an old mystery paperback. We were about to pay the lady who was running the yard sale when the little daughter of the lady in front of us ran up to her mommy holding an old doll she had found. Her Mom sadly shook her head and said they didn’t have enough money left to get it. The little girl was brave about it. She didn’t cry. She just sadly put the doll back on the table she’d gotten if from. It was then that my Mom pulled out the two dollars the doll cost and asked her fellow mother if she could get it for the little girl. The girl’s Mom said no at first but eventually my Mom talked her into it. I saw the huge smile on my Mom’s face as the little girl happily skipped off holding her doll. As the mother of 3 sons I think Mom took a special joy in giving that little girl a doll to brighten her days. And the memory of that moment has stayed in my soul over the years. It has helped me to become more loving in my own life here.

The path to love is a journey without distance. It is the simple realization that you are loved. God loves you. And you can love too. It is a choice you can make, moment by moment, everyday of your life. “Thanks Mom!” for showing me this so many times over the years.