Pink Rain Boots

This morning at the library, while searching for a new novel, I heard a little voice a few aisles over singing, “It’s a small world after all… it’s a small world after all… it’s a SMALL world after all… it’s a small WORLD after all…” on repeat. The emphasis shifted each time, but the same line kept echoing. It was absolutely adorable, so of course I had to check it out.

I turned down the aisle and spotted a mother with a little girl, about five or six, cute as a button. She wore a white top, blue shorts, and pink rain boots, and kept singing with great enthusiasm, “It’s a small world after all... it’s a small world after allllllll...” without missing a beat, even with me there. I glanced at her mom, who offered an apologetic smile. Apologize for this? Oh, not at all—I told her she was absolutely adorable. The little girl was singing and doing little twirls in the aisle, all the while looking down at her pink rain boots.  I told her that I LOVED her boots and she stopped and rewarded me with the biggest smile and said "They're new!".  "Well", I said, "They are fabulous!  And, you are quite a good little singer too."  Another big smile!  And then she continued singing and dancing...."It's a SMALL world after all....it's a small world after ALLLLLL....."

Her mom thanked me for noticing and mentioning it to her. She said, "They’re new, and she hasn’t taken them off for the past two weeks!" Bless her little heart.

Driving home, thinking about that little girl, I realized what a beautiful glimpse of joy I had just witnessed. As we go through life, some days we’re the ones wearing the new pink rain boots, and other days we just hope someone notices them. Either way, life can be so wonderfully full of joy.