Whenever anyone asked my grandfather what he wanted for any gift, he always gave the same reply:

“A smile and a kind word.”

When I was a child, I thought that was a silly answer.

The older I get, the more that I realize how wise Grandy’s answer was.

On an unrelated note, one of my favorite students was killed yesterday in a car accident. Megan was a bit punk, with a few piercings, a few tattoos, a sarcastic attitude, a sharp mind and wit, and a five-year-old son. Sigh. There is no joy in Mudville today.

Give someone a smile and a kind word today. They might need it, and you might not get another chance.