:)

I was in 4th grade when Alin came to my elementary school. She just moved here from Israel, so her English wasn't great. She was in 4th grade English, but 5th grade Hebrew. We made friends easily, as kids do. She lived in the next neighborhood over, but she would walk in sometimes on shabbos. She lived here for about three years before her family moved back to Israel. On her last shabbos in America, she walked into the neighborhood, and we spent the afternoon together, hanging out with our friends. It was right before she was going home when she told me that on her first day of school I smiled at her. This was, obviously, something I had no recollection of. She told me that my smile on that first day, when she was so nervous, meant everything. It meant that everything was going to be okay, that she'd find her way in this scary new place.

I'm not trying to pat my back, or say that I'm a wonderful person. I didn't smile at her because I wanted her to feel good about herself. I could have been smiling at someone standing behind her.

All I'm saying is smiling is good.