Great Smile from a Great Niece

Recently, my husband took a trip to visit with our family and friends. It's been about a year since the last visit, and we wondered how our great niece, MJH, would react to him. It did take her a little time to warm up, but once she did, they had a blast. On a lunch outing to Bob Evans, she provided this adorable smile. Since I had been unable to make the trip, they emailed it to me. I have to be honest; it brought tears to my eyes. Take a look and you can see why!

Thanks to MJH for this absolutely adorable smile and to her parents, MH & WH, for letting me use her picture in this blog. I miss you all. There's just nothing better than family smiles!

Troubled Smile

My "old pal, TK" is in trouble. She wrote and told me about being in trouble and shared this smile as proof. Oh, and don't be alarmed that I called her an "old pal" because she often refers to herself as "your old pal, TK". That provides immunity, preventing me from being in TROUBLE like she is.

Thanks, TK, for sharing your smile, even if it is troubled!! Everything will be ok.

Generational Smile

I went to school in the 70s with some wonderful people who became my lifelong friends. We have grown up together, making our way through amazing life adventures...and we continue that journey. One of those friends had a little girl, K, who has grown up to be an amazing young woman with a little girl of her own. No wonder she's smiling!

Thank you, K, for sharing your smile with me. Funny, I can still see you as that little girl who came over to my house to play with my little girls. I swear it was only yesterday!

Wasn't it?

Halloween Smiles

My dear friend, TS, is off on a vacation with her husband. They were kind enough to share their smiles from today's breakfast at Cracker Barrel. TS sends along her smile, which is lovely even though she is sticking her tongue out a little bit.

KS, on the other hand, has fully embraced the Halloween season with this incredible "smile", indicating that his breakfast beverage of choice just might not be coffee!

Thank you both, TS & KS, for these terrific smiles. Have a great vacation!

Buckeye Smile

Yesterday was a big football game between Ohio State University and Nebraska. My friend, TK, is probably the most devoted OSU Buckeye fan that I know. She sent me this pre-game photo of herself holding up her what might be her game tickets to represent her smile! The game was hard fought and very suspenseful (Buckeyes WON!) and I hope TK's blood pressure has returned to normal by this morning.

Thank you, TK, for sharing your pre-game excitement with me!

Ladies Who Lunch

Now that my sister, KMA, has gotten on the band wagon for sharing smiles, she's pretty much unstoppable! She sent along this shot of herself and her dear friend, DW, when they were out to lunch recently. While I haven't seen KMA for entirely too long, it's been ages since I have seen DW, so it was truly wonderful to receive these beautiful smiles!

                       KMA                                                                      DW

I find myself wondering what other restaurant patrons think when they see this. I hope they think it's awesome that people take the time to share a smile with those who are unable to join them at that time.

Thank you, dear ladies who lunch, for sharing your smiles!

It's a Dog's Life

Speaking of days when it is hard to feel positive brings me to this extraordinary smile. My friend, PB, sent it along as inspiration for us both. She said this is the smile that she sees each day upon her return home. How can anyone resist?

HB

I laugh each time I see this picture; I even made it the wallpaper on my work computer. Laughing is very therapeutic but another health benefit can be found in the fact that the picture reminds me it is time to get my cleaning appointment scheduled at the dentist's office!

Thank you, PB, for sharing HB's beautiful smile with me!

Encouraging Smiles

We've all had "those days"...nothing goes right and it's hard to feel positive about anything. Not too long ago that happened to me. My two friends, TS and AF, sent along some beautiful flowers with a smiley face balloon attached. Best of all was the card...

It would have been impossible NOT to smile after such a thoughtful reminder from friends. Those flowers remain on my desk and they never fail to bring a smile my way. Thanks, TS and AF!

Smiles from "Up North"

My sister, KMA, has been enjoying watching the development of this blog/smile project. She lives entirely too far away from me... 924 miles northwest, in fact. She kept telling me she was going to send a smile, but she's busy and I wasn't sure she would actually find the time to do so. Though it took several months, it was definitely worth waiting for. While out to lunch with her friend, KH, these smiles were created and then sent along to me.

    KMA

KH 

Thank you BOTH so much for sending along your smiles. It's a definitely a reminder of my need to spend some face-to-face time together!  

Smiles from Visitors

There's been so much summer fun going on around here that most of the smiles I've seen lately have been physical, as opposed to the crayon-drawn type. My good friend, TS, recently had some visitors from out of town and while out to dinner, they joined in the share-a-smile project with these lovely smiles:

This is CSH and AR, sending along some July smiles while waiting for their food order! I see they both are also sticking out their tongues - a highly creative touch!

Thanks, TS, CSH, and AR, for sharing your smiles!

Congratulatory Smile

I recently moved into a new position in my workplace and received a congratulations smile from my dear friend, TK. She is actually the person who is responsible for taking this whole smile idea and moving it outside of "just family". This latest smile makes me laugh each time I see it.

 Thanks, TK, for the unique and heart-warming smile!! 

Capital Smiles

These are four of my friends/co-workers who recently attended an educational conference in Washington, DC. While they were out to dinner they came up with the idea to send along their own smiles and this is the result:

Smiles from Washington

I received this on my phone and was so happy to see them out and enjoying themselves after a busy day being educated. So I extend a huge THANKS to CB, JCH, ET, and TS, for sending along their smiles!!

ICU Smiling!

Today at lunch, I heard my name called out from a nearby table. When I looked up, this is what I saw:

This is the first "group smile" I have seen and I was really delighted! You can't see very clearly in this photo I took, but each of them has a unique and beautiful smile on the napkins they are holding up in front of their faces! The instigator of this wonderful display is the woman in the center, PW. So thank you, PW, and the ICU gang - you brought joy and laughter not only to me, but to pretty much everyone else who witnessed this!

Smiling Man

This blog is severely lacking in smile photos from the male gender. I'm not referring to the young men who appear in this blog, I'm talking about adults. That is one of several reasons I was so thrilled to receive this picture just a short while ago. My friend, PK, sent this photo of her husband, DK, while they were awaiting their dinner at a local restaurant. 

Another of the reasons I am so happy to have this picture is that PK & DK are among our very best friends. They live in the north; my husband I left the north a year and a half ago to move to the south. This shot was taken at a restaurant to which the four of us used to go all the time, reminding us of how very much we miss them. Both my husband and I were really pleased to get this photo and determined that we are definitely due to head up there for a visit. SOON!

Hugs and a big thanks to PK & DK for making our day!

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day morning found my family having breakfast at the Cracker Barrel where the smiles originated. I realized I had lots of smile photos from my grandchildren and friends, but none of my daughter! So at Mother's Day breakfast she was kind enough to provide this smile:

Happy Mother's Day to you, AS - a wonderful daughter & awesome Mommy!

Birthday Duo

I received these two smiles on my birthday. One came from a "familiar" face, KMR. If you have read other posts in this blog, you probably recognize her crossed eyes!

The other is from my friend, MR, who has taken the pictures of other people's smiles, but this is her first time in front of the camera! I'm very impressed by her lovely smile; movie stars pay top dollar to have lips like this:

Thank you very much, KMR & MR, for keeping the smiles coming and for providing a delightful reminder of the value of friends!

Frosting Smile

Tomorrow is my birthday. It's a BIG birthday and I've been feeling a bit stressed out about it. Today at work, my friends gave me the most amazing surprise Birthday Party. It was a great deal of fun and I am humbled by the time and effort they put into the event. In the midst of the laughter and hugs and surprise, I turned around and saw the cake. To say that I was stunned by the decoration on top would be a huge understatement:

They had provided the baker/decorator with a photo of me from this blog and she created this masterpiece.

I'm no longer feeling all that concerned about reaching a certain age because, with friends like these, how could I feel anything other than BLESSED?  

Thank you for my most wonderful Birthday surprise - you know who you are!

Future "Wanted" Poster?

This photo showed up a day or two ago of my good friend, DB, with whom I worked for nearly 10 years. I was thrilled to get it, because I miss her a great deal and haven't seen her in entirely too long!

I'm not sure I have ever received a smile photo in which the smiler had a more mischievous look in her eyes! I almost expect to see that face show up on a "WANTED" poster at the Post Office some day.

The really fun thing about these photos is that they always make ME smile and some, like this one, bring a tear to my eye in remembrance of great friends and lots of fun. Thank you, DB, from the bottom of my heart!

May Day Smiles

According to Wikipedia's entry about May Day, "May Day was also celebrated by some early European settlers of the American continent. In some parts of the United States, May Baskets are made. These are small baskets usually filled with flowers or treats and left at someone's doorstep. The giver rings the bell and runs away. The person receiving the basket tries to catch the fleeing giver. If they catch the person, a kiss is exchanged."

This year, instead of a basket of flowers, I was lucky enough to receive these two beautiful smiles:

      

          

Instead of finding them on my doorstop, they were left on my Facebook page by their Mama, AH!
Thank you, T, J, & AH, for these beautiful May Day smiles. What a great way to start a beautiful spring month!

A Smile on Steroids?

The previously mentioned smiler with the crossed eyes and angular lips has gone even further in her quest to make an impact with her smile! She found a cushion on a bench not far from my office, recognized it as being shaped somewhat like lips and...well, see for yourself:

Once again, KMR, thank you for sharing your "smile" and bringing the rest of us a great laugh!

New Smiles

It's been quite a while since anyone outside my family group (below) has shared a smile. This took place at the end of March while waiting for breakfast at Cracker Barrel. Thanks to L & L for these two smiles!

But sure enough, over the last few weeks a couple more have come in. This picture is from the first friend who got the ball rolling outside the family. She went out to eat recently and shared this beautiful smile. Thanks, TK!

The next one is striking for several reasons. First of all, the angular lips remind me of a character from The Addams Family. The second reason is the fabulous way she has crossed her eyes. These two factors make this a truly outstanding example! Kudos and a big thanks, KMR!

So that brings us to the end of April and I'm hopeful that May will bring more pictures of smiles being shared. Everyone needs a smile so, if you do this, please send along a copy to me, as well!

Online Smile

I have been involved in the online world since 1993 and have a good number of friends from those activities. Over the years I have met many of them in person, but there are plenty of them that (so far) I only know online. This does not in any way lessen our friendship. One of them, upon seeing my blog, delighted me by sharing her photo.

I love the shade of "lipstick" she's wearing and am grateful to her for encouraging others to join in this endeavor. I can't wait to see if it works. Thanks, JR, for this beautiful picture!  

Cracker Barrel Strikes Again!

My original smile idea started at a Cracker Barrel, as I wrote in my first post on January 29, 2012. My friend, AC, decided to give it a try on a recent visit there with her adorable children. The three of them drew smiles and posed for the camera. The photos appeared on Facebook and, with her permission, I'm posting them here!

Aren't they beautiful? I'm sending a big thanks to AC and her sons for making ME smile!

Door Smile

On the door to my office I have a White Board. I post information about where I might be in the hospital and visitors leave me messages. It's blurry because I obscured my name. Today I was very surprised to find a smile taped to the board....it's bright and vivid, more than this picture even shows. I couldn't help but smile when I opened the door and I honestly think I'm just going to leave it there!

I don't actually know who did this; the likely candidate list contains about five of my co-workers. Whoever it was - Thanks,  I LOVE IT!        

Update May 6, 2012: Turns out this was done by KMR, whose picture you will find in several other blog posts. :)

International Smile

This smile arrived and made my day! From the other side of the world, my niece sent this photo of her daughter, sporting an awesome smile...

Even more touching was my niece's account of being eager to dine at a restaurant that had the paper napkin/cutlery wrapper on which to draw a smile. The most important thing of all is the journey of producing it, as evidenced by this additional photo; it's pretty obvious she is having FUN!  

So I say a big thanks to JS for taking these wonderful photos of ES and sending them, as well as granting permission to post here. I love and miss you all!

More Smiles are Shared

Today at lunch I was talking with two of my nurse colleagues about our friend, who was away from work with health issues. She usually joins us at lunch and we missed her. The suggestion was made to share a napkin smile from each of us. Despite the strange looks from surrounding tables, we took these photos and sent them to her via text message. She cracked up when she saw them and assured us the smiles aided her healing process! We were pleased to be so therapeutic. Thanks AF & AG!

                  

The Next Step

I posted the story about making napkin-wrapper smiles on my Facebook page. It was very well received and generated plenty of positive comments. I thought how much fun it would be if others would join in, even if just within their own families, though I knew that tracking anything like that would be pretty much impossible.

Then I received an email containing this picture, asking "Can I join the club?"

The sender was one of my dearest friends, TK, a woman I'd known since the early 70s and with whom I have shared many adventures over the years. I couldn't have been more delighted and asked her permission to post the photo on Facebook. She was kind enough to grant that permission and the picture got added. Once again the results were positive and I told friends I was going to start a blog about this to see if I could get others to send photos, too.

In The Beginning

It started at a Cracker Barrel in Raleigh, North Carolina, while dining with my twin five-year-old grandchildren. On occasion, they found it difficult to remain patient awaiting the arrival of their pancakes and would become restless (a nice word for cranky).

On one such occasion the restlessness was reaching a high level and the usual distraction methods just weren't working. In an effort to make them laugh, I took the paper wrapper from around the napkin/cutlery and, using the crayons provided to child diners, drew a smile to hold up to my face. Fortunately, it worked. It worked so well, in fact, that all the wrappers at our table were immediately located and drawn upon. We had an assortment of smiles, with and without teeth, and had a great amount of fun. This has become our tradition at Cracker Barrel!

We've now gotten to the point where, even if dining apart, we look for napkin wrappers on which to draw the smile......then have a picture taken to be sent to one another. These are the first two photos: