I had a little idea the other day, and asked my girls what they thought.
“What if we decorated the mailboxes?” I asked them.
“No one will even know it was us.”
By their scrunched up faces I could tell they didn’t understand why we would do such a thing.
They’d rather stay on the couch staring at screens,
But I told them I thought it would help spread some joy to our little street.
Sometimes all it takes is that one insignificant-seeming thing.
“We could even dig out old ornaments we aren’t using right now,” I went on.
Still, no true response from them,
but inside I still wanted to do it,
even without their support.
If I think a thing will lift up hearts, then it is worth it,
you see.
Even if it’s the tiniest amount.
We live out in the country on a little tucked-away lane.
It would be easy to feel forgotten here this year, I think.
Many people who live here are elderly and I have not seen them leave or entertain for months.
I walk by their homes and see them in their living rooms, just staring out into the currently unsteady world and I feel sadness for them.
But, one place they still go is the mailbox.
The mailbox would be the perfect place.
This was not about those boxes, though.
This was about ushering cheer.
About reminding that little, simple things matter.
I hope, if one thing, my girls have learned that this year.
Yesterday I purchased a strand of tinsel, and I dug through my garage.
This was no major thing.
This was something so extremely small.
With arms full I snuck out there, and pinned and wound, and stood back to look,
smiling at what I had done.
I hope someone lonely smiles when they see it, knowing it was meant just to bring joy in this difficult year.
I hope their walk back home feels a little more cheerful than the one going, feeling lonely, down the street.
Mostly I hope that the center of something that radiates outward is what my home on this little lane can be.
That what starts here is the center of a ripple with rings that keep going on and on as far as the eye can see.
Our steps forward together in this life don’t have to be great big ones at all.
They might be small, and unsure at times.
What matters is the heart that we give from.
What matters is if our motives are pure.
The gifts we bear may look tiny at first,
But much bigger once they are unfurled.
Today I simply decorated the mailboxes,
and by doing so, hopefully delivered in them
a tiny ray of light back to the world.
Mom Outnumbered
Hi! My name is Kerri Green; Wife to Justin, and mother to four highly entertaining daughters -Alena, Chloe, Tessa, and Paige. I am an artist, a writer, a daycare provider, a lover of people, a believer that there is humor and beauty in all things, and the author of Mom Outnumbered; a blog about real family life, and my observations of it. My goal is to make people laugh, to be there for them when they cry, and most importantly, to let them know that they are not at all alone in this up and down world. I live with my family in Sebastopol California, and I am opening the window into our life. So welcome! Come in. Sit down. Just please don’t mind the mysterious wet spots.
