I remember when my best friend, Shauna, first got her cancer diagnosis. She went to Costco. As she roamed around the store, she looked at people, and I mean really looked at them ~ not past them, not through them, but at them. If they made eye contact with her, she smiled at them ~ not the smile of a passerby, not the smile of someone whose gaze you may have uncomfortably stumbled upon, but a real, genuine smile - a smile that said, "Hello. You are a child of God. I see you."

She told me later that night that as she looked at people, rather than past them or through them, she just kept thinking, "I wonder what happened in their world today,". She realized that, from all appearances, she just looked like a normal person doing her shopping at Costco after work. Little did anyone who saw her that night know that she'd just gotten news that was completely life-changing and, ultimately, life-taking. She just looked like she was shopping.

How many people do I encounter everyday that I assume are just shopping, or just working, or just reading, or just walking, or just....or just? How many people do I look right past or, worse yet, right through? How many of them needed me to smile the "I see you - you are a child of God" smile? How many times have I needed the same in return?

Shauna frequented Costco, both pre-cancer and post-cancer, but as the disease and treatments progressed, she no longer appeared to be "just doing her shopping after work". The disease, and its pain and its agony, were evident. She got a lot of smiles then - some genuine, some pretty fake, all very much aware. That was hard for her, but, bless her heart, she always gave that genuine, "I see you - you are a child of God" smile to them in return.

I want to give that smile. I need that smile in return. May we all try to be more aware of everyone we come in contact with.