No Big Thing

Her name is Maria. She’s a young woman who works at a Mexican Restaurant in Laguna Niguel. I was having dinner there with my wife last week and really enjoyed it because Maria gave us great service. She smiled a lot, took our order quickly, and made sure everything was just perfect for us. When we were leaving I stopped and walked back to tell her how much I appreciated her great service. No big thing…I just felt compelled to tell her. She smiled and said, “Thank you.” And then she was quiet for a moment before she said softly, “I’m going through a really difficult time right now with my little girl, and sometimes it is so hard to smile.”

His name is Mario. He works all week at a restaurant in San Juan Capistrano and then on weekends he tries to get extra work as a day-laborer. Last weekend I picked up Mario and a friend of his to help me fill sand bags in front of my house. It’s hard work in the hot sun but Mario and Pablo worked steady, filling and stacking over 300 sand bags. I took time to tell them what a great job they were doing and since my wife also noticed how hard they were working, she decided to cook them some homemade carnitas tacos. No big thing…. She just felt compelled to do it. They both really loved the food and Mario mentioned that his Mom and sisters were good cooks too. I asked him how many brothers and sisters he had and he said he had 12 brothers and 2 sisters, most of them still in Mexico, and then he said, “I miss them so much.”

Today is Memorial Day. To me, this is a big thing! It’s a really important Holiday because we need to remember all the soldiers, policemen, firemen and first responders who risk their lives, and especially those who have lost their lives, so we can keep ours. I believe we should honor these people on a daily basis whenever we cross paths with them. My Dad was a Captain the Marine Corps and his Dad was a Major, so I grew up understanding what discipline and sacrifice truly mean. Therefore, whenever I see a person in uniform, I take the time to thank them for their service. It’s no big thing on my part, but what they do sure is!

So it’s important to remember and honor the brave people in uniform that keep us safe. But I also think it’s important to remember that there are people all around us who are going through tough times that we don’t even know about. If we can also pay attention to the everyday people who cross our path, speak kindly to them, or even simply smile at them, it might just seem like no big thing… or maybe it really is!

Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, 

love leaves a memory no one can steal.

~ From a headstone in the Arlington National Cemetery