{"id":4446,"date":"2012-02-05T13:00:35","date_gmt":"2012-02-05T21:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/janaremy.com\/?p=4446"},"modified":"2012-02-05T13:00:35","modified_gmt":"2012-02-05T21:00:35","slug":"smile-a-triptych","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.janaremy.com\/pilgrimsteps\/2012\/02\/05\/smile-a-triptych\/","title":{"rendered":"smile, a triptych"},"content":{"rendered":"

I.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I tried an experiment once<\/p>\n

after too many days of Utah winter and indoors<\/p>\n

with two toddlers.<\/p>\n

I would see what my<\/p>\n

smile<\/p>\n

would get me…<\/p>\n

We went to the library for storytime, and there was an older man<\/p>\n

a grandpa<\/p>\n

leading some children’s music by playing the harmonica<\/p>\n

he had a suitcase full of different harmonicas at his side<\/p>\n

So I asked him some questions<\/p>\n

about a good starter harmonica and about music<\/p>\n

I pointed to several in his case and asked about them<\/p>\n

he said he taught lessons<\/p>\n

he gave me his card, and I<\/p>\n

smiled<\/p>\n

and kept asking questions<\/p>\n

before long, he had pulled a new harmonica out of his bag<\/p>\n

and had me playing a few notes on it,<\/p>\n

learning to close the holes with my tongue to make different sounds<\/p>\n

it felt strange to be talking with a stranger about where to put my tongue<\/p>\n

but I was learning and<\/p>\n

I kept asking questions and I<\/p>\n

smiled<\/p>\n

and after awhile he pulled a small box out of the bottom of his case.<\/p>\n

It was about the size of a stick of trident gum, but thicker<\/p>\n

and he told me that it was mine and I<\/p>\n

smiled<\/p>\n

and opened it and it was a small golden harmonica<\/p>\n

on a gold necklace chain, which he said<\/p>\n

I could now take with me anywhere<\/p>\n

“I can’t accept that,” I said and<\/p>\n

smiled<\/p>\n

and he closed his hand around mine<\/p>\n

and told me that he wanted me to have it<\/p>\n

because my<\/p>\n

smile<\/p>\n

had made him happy.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It’s time for my annual interview<\/p>\n

with a church leader.<\/p>\n

A man that I’ve never met before,<\/p>\n

he ushers me into his office<\/p>\n

closes the door behind him and I<\/p>\n

smile<\/p>\n

as I shake his hand<\/p>\n

and he pulls out the list of questions<\/p>\n

he must ask to judge<\/a> if I can<\/p>\n

enter the temple, again.<\/p>\n

I settle into my chair across the desk<\/p>\n

from him and he steeples his fingers<\/p>\n

and looks at me.<\/p>\n

“Sister,” he says.<\/p>\n

“I can tell from your beautiful<\/p>\n

smile<\/p>\n

that you will answer all of these questions<\/p>\n

correctly.<\/p>\n

I can just see these things sometimes.”<\/p>\n

And I<\/p>\n

smile<\/p>\n

again as he signs his name to the<\/p>\n

small white card that certifies<\/p>\n

I am worthy.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I went to the cantina at the invitation of<\/p>\n

a friend-of-a-friend who knew I was just barely<\/p>\n

divorced and wanting to ‘get out.’<\/p>\n

That friend-of-a-friend bought me a drink<\/p>\n

and then moved on<\/p>\n

to the other side of the room.<\/p>\n

And I sat there<\/p>\n

at the bar alone, stirring my drink<\/p>\n

and thinking.<\/p>\n

A man approached and as we talked we<\/p>\n

discovered we had more in common<\/p>\n

than just our friend.\u00a0 And I<\/p>\n

smiled<\/p>\n

as he told me how hard it is to meet<\/p>\n

smart women, who know some things<\/p>\n

about technology.\u00a0 And then I<\/p>\n

chewed on the corner of my lip<\/p>\n

because I had never met a man in a bar before<\/p>\n

and I hesitated<\/p>\n

when he offered to buy me another<\/p>\n

margarita as we<\/p>\n

nibbled on nachos. I asked myself<\/p>\n

what does it mean<\/p>\n

that we’ve been talking for<\/p>\n

two hours now?<\/p>\n

And I wondered what should I do when he said<\/p>\n

“Let’s get out of here,” while motioning to our<\/p>\n

friend who had long since left<\/p>\n

us in this corner.\u00a0 So I<\/p>\n

smiled<\/p>\n

and we went<\/p>\n

for a walk on the beach.<\/p>\n

And in the dark as he ran his fingertips<\/p>\n

from my ear down my neck, I asked<\/p>\n

why he approached me<\/p>\n

in that bar and and he said<\/p>\n

he couldn’t help it,<\/p>\n

because of my<\/p>\n

smile<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I. I tried an experiment once after too many days of Utah winter and indoors with two toddlers. I would see what my smile would get me… We went to the library for storytime, and there was an older man a grandpa leading some children’s music by playing the harmonica he had a suitcase full […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deep-thoughts","category-make-me-smile"],"yoast_head":"\nsmile, a triptych - PilgrimSteps<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.janaremy.com\/pilgrimsteps\/2012\/02\/05\/smile-a-triptych\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"smile, a triptych - PilgrimSteps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I. 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