Today I just want to share a poem with you. It was one of the late Rose Mclaughlin’s favorite poems. Rose was a poet herself. No one is really sure if Rose herself wrote this one, but it’s so her. We just want to share it with you. One of her granddaughters shares it with us. Nothing ever seemed to get Rose down; she was a real inspiration to all who knew her. Rose has a note attached to it that said, “I gave this at my eighth-grade graduation ceremonies.”

A Smile

The thing that goes the farthest toward making life worthwhile,

that costs the least, and does the most, is just a pleasant smile,

that bubbles from the heart, that loves its fellowmen,

will drive away all clouds of gloom and cools the sun again.

It’s full of wealth and goodness too, with mainly kindness bent

worth a million dollars and doesn’t cost a cent.

So smile away folks, understand that smile is worth a million dollars and doesn’t cost a cent.

Think about it folks, we know today things once released onto our airways goes on and on. We can’t erase them, we can’t undo what we’ve said, and we can’t take it back.

Your smile for a stranger may have lot to do with lifting him or her and making their day a brighter one. Smiles are, after all, very contagious.

If everywhere we went we were greeted with a friendly smile : oh what a world this would be.

Looking back, when I needed that lift, I would just quit, drop it, let it go, run outdoors and play with the kids for a while. After all, who’s any happier than a child? The first thing a baby learns to do is to smile.

Thanks to Rose’s family; yours was a rare jewel.

Happy New Year and God bless you one and all.

– Write to Aunt Norie at P.O. Box 265, Tonganoxie 66086.