Love is in the air! It surrounds us, even in a line at the gas(p) pump… allow me to show and tell another of my myriad examples of ‘My Life as a Miracle.

Yesterday, my husband went to the gas station for his first fill-up since he purchased his new car, a Lincoln Nautilus. The savings of the hybrid are a mighty boon to our beleaguered budget. The prices of everything – utilities, insurances, and groceries – have skyrocketed. The cost of a gallon of gas has neared five bucks in sunny CA – gasp!

My husband is a gregarious guy, prone to smile no matter what. He reads voraciously and has a fund of knowledge to carry a conversation with anyone, anywhere, any time – even when pumping gas. He’d chatted with the elderly man on the other side of the pump, if for no other reason but to keep his mind off the whizzing of the numbers as they tallied the pump gas price.

He’d just completed the necessary chore and was hanging the nozzle back in its berth on the pump when the wizened man opened his truck cab door and pulled a floral bouquet off the seat, offering it to my husband.  “Would you like to give these flowers to your wife?”

“I have little cash on me, so I’m not prepared to pay,” my husband explained.

“No worries,” said the elderly man. “I’ve sold all my other bouquets to earn enough money for a tank of gas for my truck. This is the last one. I don’t need any more money. My need is fulfilled. Give these to your wife.”

There are many morals to this story and none of them align with greed, so frequently seen in the conspicuous consumption predominant in our country. Nor the narcissism and transactional nature that predominates the attitude from the top down.

• people are hungry for connection
• kind, selfless people exist
• surprises – miracles, large and small – exist
• only take what you need
• give unto others, for ’tis better to give than receive
• be grateful and help others feel the same way
• sharing is caring and vice versa
• smile and say “thanks”
• show love
• it doesn’t take much to make someone else’s day – do it!