It’s funny how a single moment can change how one sees the world around them. If you had asked me just over five years ago if I’d ever work in a prison, I’d of looked at you like you were crazy even to SUGGEST the idea.  However, I did decide to work at one after I had the chance to talk to my cousin, who incidentally was working the midnight shift as a nurse. That wasn’t the moment I’m speaking about here, though, but it is a moment that changed my world down a different path than I had expected.

     No, the moment I speak of today is when I was doing the insulin line in the clinic for the inmates, and this is after I’d been working there for probably about 2 years.  One of them came into the clinic, and when he saw me, he stopped and smiled. He said, “I just have to thank you. I look foward to coming here to see you working - and the reason is because no matter how crappy or bad of day you’ve had, you ALWAYS have a smile for everyone. NO ONE smiles around here, but every day you have a smile on your face, and I just have to thank you for that.”

     It made me realize how the littlest things you do can make the difference to someone around you. A single smile can create a ripple, a change, give hope to the hopeless. I will admit I’ve had many moments that have helped shape me into the person I am, but it was that moment that made me realize how small things matter at any moment in time. We do no live as islands unto ourselves, even though social media has sort of taken away the more personal touches of communication and phone calls, and the times we’d ask our friend’s parents if so-and-so could come out and play, but those little actions DO still matter and you never know who you’re going to touch for good or ill. Personally, I believe every person in this life comes into our own for a reason - either something we need to teach them or they to teach us - and it’s important to take those lessons to heart. What we do matters.