“Be nice to everyone you meet. Sooner or later they will show up again in your life.” Lisa Ryan
If I were to say to you, “It’s a very small world,” I’m sure that you would agree. There no longer seems to be that famous “six degrees of separation,” it feels more like two.
For many years I rented a house across the street from a family that I affectionately nicknamed “the porch people.” They were on their porch from the time I went to work in the morning until I went to bed at night, or so it seemed. I never got to know these people; and a casual wave and saying “hi,” was about as deep as our relationship ever got.
Many years later, I was on the golf course. Since I was golfing alone, the starter teamed me up with a couple that was going out at the same time. They were very nice, and we conversed through our nine holes together. The conversation came down to, “Where do you live?” Both the guy and the woman said that they were from Garfield Heights. Funny, that’s where I used to live. We compared notes, and I found that the guy was the son of “the porch lady.” I remembered seeing him and waving to him on occasion. On one hand, I felt good because it was always a friendly wave, but I also felt bad because it never went any deeper. After reestablishing the contact, we stayed in touch, and a friendship developed.
This incident was a powerful reminder that people come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. No matter what the reason is, it’s always best to err on the side of being nice.
Have fun,
Lisa
A smile, a wave, or a kind word is all it takes to open the door for a relationship now or at some point in the future.