A Trail of Smiles

A Trail of Smiles
For Angel and Virgina Madero

One of the saddest moments from US historyIs the tale of “The trail of tears."
I can think of one thing that I can do
To right this wrong,
That is to blaze a trail of smiles,
That goes on for miles and miles.

I can remember when I first saw
This phenomenon,
I was in the temple with my mom.

We were going to eat lunch withAngel and his wife Virginia.
They had left ahead of us,
I was worried that we might not
Catch up to them in time.

My mom said not to worry.
Angel will have to greet
Everyone he meets
With:
A Light laugh,
A big smile,
A shake of the hand,
And a genuine, “H’z ya doin’.
Gladz to know ya.”
With Virginia smiling
By his side.

So we started on our way.
Everyone we meet
Coming towards us had:
A spring in their step,
A sparkle in eye,
And a curled up upper lip.

After some time I said,
To my mother,
“We must be gettingCloser to Angel and Virginia.”

“How can you tell?”
She asked.

“The smiles are getting bigger,”
I replied.

Over the years I have thought
Of this experience.
Of how I can Overcome my tendenciesOf walking around with-Out a smile on my face.

I say that I am often
In deep thought,
Well, OK, I'm daydreaming,
That I forget to enjoy
The moment I am in.

So to try to right a wrong
And to give thanks to those
Who have added to my smile
Like Angel and Virginia,
Everyday I try to just make one person smile.
In this way I can have a trail
Of my own.

Yet, this trail of mine,
Is really part of Angel's
And Virginia’s trail of smiles.

Why Virginia’s? you ask.
Well I always thought that
At least half of Angel's smile
Came from Virginia.
And at least half of Virginia’s smile
Came from Angel.

Spring 1995 - 9/18/2007
Larry T. Hollist