Last year our house sold.  This was a miracle.  It had been on the market for well over a year.   Within two weeks of opening escrow, the renters in our other house also gave 30-days notice.  This was God.  So, we loaded up what was left of the hasty evacuation from a 2700 square foot house to move into a small tract house, in a small tract house neighborhood, in a small California town mid-way between San Francisco and LA.

The first night we moved in, we had collapsed on the couch, both of us bleakly staring at the dirty white walls, sighing with relief to be completely in.  That’s when the unfamiliar sound of our “new” doorbell rang.  We looked at each other with dread definitely not wanting to deal with whoever or whatever was on the other side of the front door!  When I opened it, there stood our 10-year old next door neighbor, tall and thin, blond hair hanging down.  Close beside her stood another neighbor, six year old Hispanic Corbin.  Sierra, bold and direct, held up her carefully written sign decorated with bright red smiley faces:  “Free Smiles.”  She proudly announced, “We are selling free smiles,” and then waited patiently to see what I would say.   Well, how could I resist?  Naturally, I asked the price before buying such a precious commodity.   She answered, “They are free; they are all free smiles,” and very matter-of-factly told me that she and Corbin simply draw smiley faces on your face.  She emphatically reiterated that they were all free!  While she was talking, I took note of the tightly held bundle of yellow, red and black permanent markers in both of their hands.  Quickly, quickly, I thought, “How in the world to handle this obviously precarious situation.”  I could only imagine how long it would take for the markers to wear off of my face or what it would take to get the ink off!

“Of course, I want free smiles,” I exclaimed.  “But, since there are two of you and I really, really need lots of smiles today, how about if you draw them on my two arms?”  Well, my new neighbors were ecstatic at the thought.  So, up and down my arms, inside and out, beautiful smiles began to appear.  All the while Sierra talked and talked and talked, filling me in on the neighborhood gossip – which neighbors were friendly and which ones to clearly stay away from with suitable explanations for why on both counts.

It was only the first night in our new place, but clearly, this is going to be the best neighborhood ever.  If you are ever feeling blue or life isn’t exactly like you had imagined it might be, not to worry, I know exactly where you can get some free smiles to brighten your day.