What is a “Smize?”

 

Restaurants are practicing the new ‘smize’ with their waitpersons. They are perfecting the smile with their eyes only. Some even wear a photo of themselves smiling without a mask on. My Birthday Wish came true! In addition to my usual wish for health and happiness, I wished to see my children and grandchildren. It sounded so easy, but nothing is easy these days. They live a four- hour drive away in another state where COVD 19 is rampant. We have a new granddaughter who is almost three months old who we haven’t seen yet. In order to see her, the pediatrician said we needed a negative COVID Test, a booster DPT shot, and be quarantined for 14 days. We did the first two items, but not the quarantine. We just moved into a new house in a new state and have too many daily errands to quarantine. What to do?

A birthday strategy was planned. We drove straight to our daughter’s condo. Then we put on our masks and entered her locked gate with the code, walked down a long sidewalk around the building to their living room window. Then we saw our daughter, her husband, and their new bundle of joy through the window. It was worth the entire drive, McDonald’s drive-up lunch, and the 110-degree heat. We talked on our cell phones and our timing was just right. Baby girl had just woken up from a nap and was wide-eyed and alert. She followed us with her eyes and even smiled. She looked even sweeter than on Skype. One of their neighbors walked by and asked how old the baby was. I told her this was our first time to see our new granddaughter in person. We talked, cooed, and smiled as she followed us with her eyes. She was fixated on our ‘smize’ and could see our eyes smiling. We left gift bags outside that will be wiped down, stored in the garage, and opened in a week. Everything is extra clean around Baby Girl. 

We extended virtual hugs and blew farewell kisses as we left for our next stop to see our son and his family who live only half an hour away. As we drove, a skateboarder darted right in front of us. We screeched on the brakes as he yelled, “This is how we do it in LA!” I guess that is how you do it if you want to live dangerously. Our five-year-old granddaughter greeted us in a princess dress with gold shoes and our grandson had grown a foot taller. Did I add that we all had masks on? We greeted each other with a ‘smize.’ We didn’t go into their house and socially distanced in their backyard with our masks on. We played rocks, paper, scissors, and caught up on our past year overseas. We brought back Lao gifts for them that will sit in their garage for a week until they are properly sanitized and free from germs. Then we bid them farewell with air hugs and air kisses. What a strange year this has been. Everything feels a little bit ‘off.’ 

Will we ever return to our old routines? In this ‘new normal’, we are finding out that it is easier to work at home and not drive for hours in traffic. We have all slowed down and changed our priorities. We have placed more emphasis on health and worry more about germs. I have meditated and walked more. I have spent time unpacking and setting up a new home. My new normal is to go to Goodwill and the City Dump daily with our old stuff. I call my family more often and reach out to others. We have a collective duty to care and help each other during this Pandemic. What can we do? We are all on the same planet and need to keep ourselves healthy. My birthday wish came true. I hope that your wishes do too. Let’s make 2020 a year to remember with an increased awareness of the life we create through our hope and actions. Wash your hands and stay healthy! Try to ‘smize’ a little bit at people you encounter today.