You wouldn’t think so to look at them, but apparently these are my rose colored glasses….
The little grandpa that directs traffic at school and I have a little thing going. Or so I thought. Every morning as I take Blake to school, I wave wholeheartedly at this sweet little man with his bright yellow jacket, his warm beanie and his cozy gloves. At the beginning of the school year, he was all about business, and my frantic wave was in vain. But slowly over time, I won him over and could get a wave and a smile out of him each morning, much to my delight.
I have felt especially appreciative of this man in recent weeks when the weather has been so terribly cold. Every morning as I drive away I think, “I should have brought him some hot chocolate.” And every morning I forget. So I try my best to warm his heart a little with my smile and wave.
Imagine my excitement this morning when I was driving into the parking lot, my hand already waving, when he waved at me with two hands! He was as excited as I was! “Look, Blake,” I said, “He’s giving me two hands!” It was then that I realized that my glasses were, in fact, rose colored. Blake informed me that he wasn’t waving AT me, but waving TO me to slow down on the icy pavement. It was true. I realized that there was no smile with the wave.
Crestfallen and embarrassed, I dropped Blake off and headed to go back out of the parking lot. I wanted to avoid eye contact with this man who had actually chastised me with his hand motions moments earlier and I was dumb enough not to even know it. My plan was to keep my head down and drive away, saving at least a small portion of my pride. But as I went out, from the corner of my eye, I saw him waving at me. And no, I wasn’t driving too fast, so I knew it was a real wave this time. And with two hands even! I waved with all my might and smiled broadly through my rose colored glasses. I am definitely going to bring that man some hot chocolate in the morning….:-)
