Good Talk, T

I will readily admit that there are certain things about being an empty-nester that I've come to appreciate. Things like less laundry, lower utility bills, fewer dirty dishes and not waking up at 2 a.m. worried sick because one of my three kiddos hadn't come home. I can walk around in my house as naked as a jaybird if I choose to ... go ahead and shake that picture right on out of your mind, I never choose to. I can sing at the top of my lungs and not give a flip if I'm off-key ... I can drink straight out of the sugar-free almond milk carton ... I can even dance with my wiener dog any old time I want to. But ... but ... but ... there are things I miss with all my heart since my three little birdies left the nest. Things like Sunday lunches together after church, laughing until we cried, vacations in the mountains of Colorado and watching Christmas Vacation while we decorated the tree. But what I miss the most ... what I miss the very most of all ... is the talking. Those spur-of-the-moment chats with my children ... sometimes one-on-one ... sometimes all three kiddos together ...  sometimes early in the morning ... sometimes late at night ... sometimes in the car ... sometimes on the deck. Yep ...  I most definitely miss the sweet talks with my children most of all.

I've been thinking a lot recently about the little things in life that are really the big things in life. Things that I so often take for granted because I don't realize how really big they are. A few weeks ago, someone told me that a friend of hers that I've never met and never will meet reads my blog every day ... someone who's kind of a big deal out in the world. My friend said three words at the end of our conversation that day ... three words that have haunted me ever since ... three words that have changed the way I feel and think about people ... three words that have made me do some seriously deep soul-searching.

"You never know."

Now my friend spoke those words about me never knowing who reads my posts each day, but the words touched me far beyond the context in which she said them. Those words are loaded with truth, friends ... you really and truly never know how much impact the smallest things you say or do may have on someone's life. Take today, for example ... a young man I work with whom I don't see very often anymore stopped by the table next to my desk this morning to grab a piece of the caramel fudge I had made and brought in for my co-workers. Though I know many of the folks in my office appreciate it when I bring in homemade treats for them, it's not often that they step around the table and pop their heads inside my cube to say thank you. But today, the young man did just that ... and then he stayed to chat for a couple of minutes. I realized how much I've missed his gentle laugh and laid-back personality as we talked, but unfortunately that's one of the downsides of company growth ... I don't see certain people as often as I used to, and I miss them.

When the young man rose from the chair next to my desk, he reached out and wrapped me in a strong hug and said, "Good talk, T ... I miss getting to talk to you. Good talk, T ... really good talk." That young man had no way of knowing how much his words meant to me ... today was a tough day ... he had no way of knowing how very much I needed our chat and his warm and genuine hug. He didn't know that he gave me a gift greater than a million pounds of gold today ... he didn't know how much impact his small act of kindness meant to me. You never know, friends ... you really and truly never know how much impact the smallest things you say or do may have on someone's life. 

"Good talk, T ... really good talk."