After over a year of staying home and hiding behind our masks in public my children and I finally got our vaccine shots. The Covid 19 pandemic had gripped the world with fear for so long and it was so joyous feeling safe again after just two tiny jabs from a needle. With so many people vaccinated our state finally lifted its mask mandate too. What a delight it was to see the uncovered, smiling faces when we went out. Just the other day I shared smiles with the clerk and customers at the local grocery store, the lady behind the register at the gas station, the clients and workers at the sheltered workshop I take my son to, the people at the post office, the guy holding the stop sign while they patched the asphalt on the road, and the people who waved when I stopped to let them pull out on the road ahead of me. When I got home even my dogs were smiling at me with open mouths, hanging tongues, and happy pants.
Seeing all those smiles made me feel so good inside. They were like little gifts from Heaven that had been hidden from us for over a year; all for the fear of a contagious little corona virus that we couldn’t see. One thing that virus did do, however, was give me a greater appreciation for the things that are just as contagious but not as deadly.
You see, when you hear the word contagious you shouldn’t always be afraid. Smiles, after all, are contagious. Kindness is contagious. Compassion is contagious. Caring is contagious. Love and Joy are quite contagious. And our Heavenly Father wants us all to be carriers of their goodness and light.
May you live a contagious life then. May you share every good thing that God gives you. May you share every good thing that lives within you. May you make this world a better place by spreading all the love, joy, kindness, compassion, goodness, wisdom, and smiles you can.
Joseph J. Mazzella
