One of the most amazing stories I’ve ever heard, was about my mum’s classmate at an all girls school in Wrexhan, North Wakes, Great Britain (AKA the United Kingdom- often mistakenly referred to as “England,” which is only one country in the Commonwealth.
It was during World War, II. One for “Chicken Soup for the Soul.” A woman living in Denver, Colorado, years ago was from my mom’s hometown in Wrexham, North Wales. She ran a day center for elderly near the old Children’s Hospital.
At the time, I worked at the Children’s Hospital Foundation just across the street from my mum’s classmate’s nonprofit “business.”
The f she was alive now, in 2923, she would be 93 years old.
She said that she tells the elderly at her center they may feel old and not contributing much to society anymore – but just a smile can change a life and you may never know.
Years earlier she and her husband were in Rome, in a taxi driving around the Colosseum.
The taxi driver kept staring at her in the mirror.
She was in her 50’s and thought it was strange he was staring. He asked, “where are you from?” Her husband said, “Denve, Colorado.”
The taxi driver said, “No! Where’s your wife from? Originally?” She replied, “Wrexham, North Wales.”
He excitedly shouted, “I knew it! I knew I’d never forget her face! My family never believed me. You have to come to dinner so I can prove it to them!”
There was a Prisoner of War camp in Wrexham in WWII. She was about 9 years old.
He was a prisoner who was assigned to take the leaves inside the fenced prisoner of war camp.
This was in no way like a German concentration camp.
My mom often told me his the German and Italian prisoners were permitted to attend church sessions with the local town folk.
She said she and others would play tennis with the prisoners at the tennis courts in town.
I now know from research that many prisoners were sent to local farms to work because two generations of British men had vanished from the planet. The women and children living on farms needed help. These men ate meals with the farm families they lived with and helped.
Many of those prisoners, especially Italians, stayed after the war and opened Italian restaurants.
In fact, when I was 18 and visiting, in 1980, I knew a delightful second generation Italian who was a Vidal Sasson stylist.
Back to the Roman taxi driver.
He told her her he was raking by a fence. a fence. He said every day she’d walk by on her way to school and never look up.
One morning, a day he resolved to end his suffering and life. The little girl walked by and for the first time, looked at him in his eyes, and said, “Happy Christmas.”
He discarded his plans to commit suicide.
He told her, “you must come to my my house, meet my family, have dinner! They never believed me – that you are real! That they would not exist except for your smile and two words!”
Forty years after that December day, they
randomly, but by divine providence, were drawn together.
Just like in Casablanca: “Of all the gin joints in towns in all the world, she walked into mine.”
She and her husband met his family. The ones that owe their existence – and their descendants – never would have existed if she didn’t acknowledge him and say just two words.
Every moment, every hour, every day each of us may choose between being helpfu, supportive and kind. Or not.
Aloha, in the ʻŌlelo language (AKA Hawaiʻian) is the word for love, affection, peace, compassion and mercy. It is most commonly used as a greeting.
Please choose to Live Aloha. Be a light that shines as a beacon in the World. Be a candle flame that lights others’ candles.
Be the Aloha you wish to see in the World.
For inspiration, please consider:
Memories of Duke: The Legend Comes to Life
Waterman: The Life and Times of Duke Kahanamoku
Also, this YouTube video about Eddie Aikau.
Edward Ryon Makuahanai Aikau (Kahului, Hawaii, May 5, 1946 – March 17, 1978) was a Hawaiian lifeguard and surfer. As the first lifeguard at Waimea Bay on the island of Oahu, he saved over 500 people and became famous for surfing the big Hawaiian surf, winning several awards including the 1977 Duke Kahanamoku Invitational Surfing Championship. The Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational (“The Eddie”) is named in his honor. He was also a crew member on the Polynesian voyaging canoe Hōkūleʻa.
Eddie Aikau: Hawaiian Hero
Watch this video on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/share/v/E7akaT4v4VJXjcMQ/?mibextid=SphRi8