For years, I’ve kept a “Rainy Day” file.  It’s where I put the neat card someone gave me for my birthday, the gift tag my son wrote when he gave me an emerald ring for my 37th birthday, a song that my youngest son made up when he was three years old, a poem my daughter wrote for me.  Thank you notes from students, ticket stubs from seeing Chicago – ‘little’ things that make me smile and remember as I look through the file once in a while.  I named it my Rainy Day file because there are days when I feel a bit low, times when the world seems mostly grey and those are the days to go through that file and be reminded of the difference I’ve made in someone’s life.

It’s the little things that make our day.  A co-worker bringing in a cup of coffee for you – a thank you email from someone you helped – a hug from a friend – a phone call saying let’s get together this week.

Like pressing a rose petal between the pages of a book, we need to commemorate or memorialize the special, precious moments in our life.  Take time to read, once again, a letter someone sent you years ago that meant the world to you – flip through the pages of a book that a friend gave you – spread some homemade jam that a neighbour gave you on your morning toast – it’s these small daily acts that connect us to one another and remind us that we are part of one another’s lives.

“Strange is our situation here upon earth. Each of us comes for a short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to a divine purpose. From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing we do know: that we are here for the sake of others…for the countless souls with whose fate we are connected by a bond of sympathy. Many times a day, I realize how much my outer and inner life is built upon the labors of people, both living and dead, and how earnestly I must exert myself in order to give in return as much as I have received.”  Albert Einstein

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