Homemade Smile Cards

--by lobsterwife, posted Mar 17, 2009

Today my son and I drove to a town just over from our own. We had errands to run there. He wanted to buy a game for all the hard work he put in this year in school. He was diagnosed with ADHD and oppositional defiance disorder but still managed to be on the A/B Honor Roll for half the school year. We are so incredibly proud of him! This child of mine has the most loving heart.

Off we went to the mall. We got lunch in the food court and just enjoyed talking to each other. He looked over and saw a young man in an Army uniform. He asked me if he could give him a smile card. We had made our own. All they say is "Smile... Pay it forward." So he marched right up to that young man and said, "Thank you!" and handed him the card. You have never seen two bigger smiles in your life or a more proud Mom.

After we secured the much sought after game, as we were leaving the mall, we walked back through the food court. We each had five smile cards left. We just started handing them out. I chose two construction workers that looked exhausted and it was only noon. I will never forget that one man's face. He looked so cranky and tired. I just set the card in front of him and said, "Have a GREAT day!" What a wonderful smile he had! His smile has kept me going all day.

This has been one of the best and one of the worst days of my life. My son left about an hour ago to go live with his dad for six months but I know he and I will remember the happiness of this day not the sadness!

8038 Reads

Posted by lobsterwife
Mar 17, 2009
Comments (24)

Readers Comments

bookworm58 wrote: It was a wonderful story. You and your son have a wonderful relationship. It wont be long until your back together again. Just hold on to the memories of the time you had together. God bless you for being such a great mom.

InnerAlchemist wrote: Hi LobsterWife,

Giving out smile cards at the mall is a great idea. The mall environment promotes a high volume of kindness tagging in a short period of time! I am trying to think of little token items with smile cards that I might give out to people in the mall. Any ideas?

Best wishes,
Matthew

sherikay wrote: The fact that you are teaching your son the value of kindness will stay with him forever. God bless>

warmth wrote: Very well done. Your imparting such goodness into your son. I am sure he is proud of u and loves u immensely. Wish you all the best life can offer :)

Aurelia wrote: You and your son have spent quality time together. Many smiles and lots of love were spread. God bless. :0) ~aurelia

akbj wrote: Great story, take heart, your son loves you very much, it must be very difficult, but your day will stay with him.

mimzy wrote: I can just picture you and your son sharing a day at the mall, smiling and sharing your smiles with everyone else. Bless you both and may your time apart speed by quickly!

irongrace wrote: Seize the day.

G Angela wrote: Hi, this was really beautiful sharing, i appreciate u for sharing, this really inspired me to think about doing somthing for my daughter, thanks again, g angela

Sprintsprite wrote: Way to go. What a wonderful way to add positivity to your life and offset the negative emotions of your impending empty nest and for him the distance from your embrace. Thank you for sharing and warming my heart today. As you did so many others.

Stories of Kindness from Around the World