To: The Little Girl, thank you

I have started to type the intro to this post numerous times only to find myself hitting the “backspace” button again and again. It’s not because my mind is unable to think of the right words, it’s because my heart is still processing what just happened. Tragedies and heartbreaks have left little holes in my heart and today one of those holes was filled. By a complete stranger. By a little girl roughly around the age of 8 that walked up to me as a sat with my hair full of foils under a heater at the salon. She smiled. I smiled back. She was curious, and I don’t blame her because like I said, I had hair full of pieces of what is essentially aluminum foil. I said to her “Do I look funny?”, trying to make her giggle. She smiled again and then reached out her tiny hand and touched my cheek. From her to me, she transferred a tenderness that as adults we often forget to cherish. She was to gain nothing from me, yet she was willing to be kind to me. This beautiful, kind girl smiled at me, and when her mom came over to ensure she wasn’t bothering me she also saw the tenderness in her daughter and in my reaction. Her mother said “thank you” and they continued on their way. This little girl was spreading love in a world where some find it easier to spread hate, and her mother said “thank you” to me for receiving this love. Her daughter has Down’s syndrome, and I imagine she has dealt with people not so open to an unknown child touching their face. However, I saw it as a blessing. As a reminder of how beautiful this world is. As a reminder of how love truly does win. To The Little Girl, thank you for being you. And thank you for sharing your beauty with me.