When I see you smile...

Did you miss us? We took a couple of weeks off, but now we're back in full swing!

Blog Project 3.0 has been going on for about two years, even though one of the group members changed after a few months. I love blogging with this group and I hope we can continue to inspire each other.

This week, Froggie chose the topic: The most beautiful smile I ever saw.

First, read what everyone else had to share on this topic. I will be only posting links to posts on this same topic from my group. So check back if you were hoping to read their blogs and don't see a link yet.

Darwin Shrugged
Froggie
Moma Rock

There are a few instances I would like to mention where I saw some beautiful and meaningful smiles. I'm sharing some excerpts from past blogs, since I'm too lazy to re-type everything....

When I was working at a Chinese restaurant during my high school years, I had a habit of giving the little cocktail umbrellas or fans to children so they'd be entertained while they had to wait for a table. The parents appreciated it, even though my manager got annoyed because the kids would tear them up and litter them all over the place. One time, a family came in with a girl who had severe disabilities, both developmental and physical. I treated her like every child there and gave her a little fan. Her entire face lit up and her parents were so thrilled. I had to turn away so they wouldn't see me crying. I still get teary-eyed just writing about it even now. (From "I Share Because I Care" June 21, 2012)

On my wedding day, there was a point before everything started happening where my husband and I got to see each other in our wedding gear without the crowd and excitement surrounding us. I think people would only get to see this moment if they watch our DVD. (My stepmother-in-law and my dad were the only family members who got to witness this in person.) My husband was facing the other direction and I was instructed to tap him on the shoulder. He turned around and saw me in my dress with my hair done and makeup freshly applied. His smile was so genuine and he made me feel so beautiful at that moment that I was laughing and crying at the same time. He looked so handsome in his tux and I was so excited that we would officially become husband and wife in a matter of hours. I know it's not customary for brides and grooms to see each other before the wedding, but it is different in Orthodox Judaism. Normally, we would have waited until the badeken (veiling) ceremony but everyone was nagging us to have pictures done together before things got crazy. We still got to have our special moment of awe and the badeken still was amazing. I was laughing and smiling from all the excitement of that. (From "Happy! Happy! Joy! Joy!" March 25, 2010)

A few months after my daughter was born, we took her for her ABR (Auditory Brainstem Response) test. She failed the hearing screen when she was born and was at risk for having hearing loss, so we knew what we were up against going into the test. When we found out what we expected to hear, we weren't surprised or as upset as we were the first time around with our older son. However, having just met with the school staff for his IEP (individualized education plan), which was all positive and uplifting, we knew our daughter would be okay. We'd get her the cochlear implants and work with her on speech and language the same way we worked with him. What confirmed our feeling of confidence this time around was a smile. When our older son got home from school, we told him the news about his sister's hearing loss. His face lit up like we had just told him he was going to Disney World (then again, when we told him that news, he had a different reaction than we were expecting.) He was thrilled that someone in our family was like him and he immediately asked if she'd get to wear CIs, He had that smile on his face the entire time. Just thinking about his reaction gets me misty-eyed.

They're crazy about each other!

Hope these stories made you smile! I'd love to hear yours, as well.