The World Smile Day is marked on the first Friday of October. We’ve got together

a few stories and poems in the hope that these will bring a smile to your face. And yes, remember to pass it on. We know we will

Several years ago I was in a San Diego restaurant with my mother. While I paid the check, we both noticed an elderly woman waiting to be seated. As we left the restaurant,

Mum asked, “Did you notice that woman with the wonderful smile?”

I most certainly did.

Her smile lit up the room. It was a smile to die for — one that would certainly win instant friends. It was a smile that you don’t often see in a stranger. And maybe Mum and I smiled back, I don’t remember. Mum later commented, “I wish I’d told her what a terrific smile she had.”

But neither of us had. We’d both received a gift without saying thank you.

Later, on my long drive home, I stopped at a fast-food restaurant for a quick bite. A seventyish woman waited by the condiment bar while her husband ordered. She glanced my way and smiled brightly. It was one of those smiles that broadcast, “I love life!”

I wasn’t going to let THIS opportunity pass — I was going to say SOMETHING. As I approached this woman from 30 feet away, her smile melted into a rather startled look as if asking, “Did I do something wrong?”

I walked over to her and simply said, “You have a wonderful smile!”

Wow, did her face light up! And she responded with an enthusiastic, “Thank You.”

My comment probably made her day, but it also made MY day. We truly exchanged gifts that afternoon.

Pass it on

Many years ago, I visited my sister. We were walking along a narrow path near the ocean. The path was so narrow that it only permitted two people to walk abreast. Whenever someone would come in the other direction, we would have to walk single file. My sister usually fell in behind me. When we got to the end of the path she said, “What have you been doing when people come in the other direction?”

I said, “Nothing. Why?”

She replied, “I have walked this path more times than I can count. People coming in the other direction just walk along. They usually don’t even make eye contact. Today, everyone smiled.”

All I had done, was to

smile at each person I met along the path. They smiled back and then passed the smile on.