A Healing Smile

There is a little old lady whom we frequently see while shopping at our local supermarket. I noticed about a year ago that she had what appeared to be a noticeable growth on her upper lip that she covered with a Band-aid. She walks to the store for her groceries and seems to be in pretty good health otherwise, and is the kind of little person that seems almost invisible in the hurried world of the Saturday shopping crowd. Alarmingly, I have watched that lesion grow to the size of an orange on her lip and fear it might be some kind of malignancy. It is so grotesque at this point that other people upon seeing her immediately look away with disgust or horror as if she is some kind of freak. I'm saddened to think that perhaps she could not have this removed because of a lack of insurance or maybe for some reason it is inoperable. I certainly would not have the nerve to approach her and ask... it's really none of my business. As others had done, I avoided looking at her when she approached, mostly out of pity. But last week as I saw her pushing her cart towards me, I felt somehow ashamed to look away. I decided I would meet her gaze and just say hello. She approached and I smiled and to my astonishment she looked straight at me and her eyes lit up with a smile when I said hello. I could barely see her mouth as the lesion which was covered with a huge band-aid almost covered her mouth, but in her eyes I saw such a light that touched me deeply. I said a quiet healing prayer for her. It dawned on me that this brave woman with a disfigured face was going about her life as if nothing was wrong. Suddenly I felt very humbled that I had been the recipient of a smile from someone incredibly courageous who remained joyful in the face of adversity. Yesterday, I again saw my little angel woman and when we met and gave our smiles and hellos of recognition I again said a silent prayer for her healing. It seemed the natural thing to do, as she had given me dose of healing that I never saw coming.