Mom’s Smiley Box
Recently, I found a long-lost friend. It had been years since I seen it last. At times, it feels like a lifetime ago since things were that simple or innocent. I had stumbled across Mom’s smiley box. The smiley box was a round, green satin trinket box with pink lace on top. Eight oriental people were sitting Indian-style around the box. Each person wore a different color. And they were all smiling! Memories flooded my mind: me riding down the street on my tricycle, then my big wheel, and later my bicycle. I never worried about muggers, rapists, kidnappers, or bad people of any kind. I later found out that Mom and Dad worried daily. However, I didn’t have a care in the world.
When I was growing up, my mom was the mom for the entire neighborhood. Kids were at our house on a daily basis. It was not unusual to walk out in the backyard in the summertime and see ten kids scattered around the yard, laughing, smiling, playing and worry-free.
Many of these kids came from broken homes. Some of them would come crying because they had nothing to eat. Mom would feed them and their tears would stop quickly. Often though, the problems were more serious. Some of the kids had parents that drank and got into fights. Others had parents that were drug addicts. Some families had two parents. Others had only one. Some families had a mother and her boyfriend. Others had a father and his girlfriend. Most of the time, the kids were barefoot. Mom knew she couldn’t solve their problems so she decided to lift their spirits instead. She invented what she called the “smiley box.”
Whenever anybody, including myself, came in the house with a frown on our face, we were instructed to take off the frown and put it in the smiley box. Then, we had to take out a smile and put it on. It didn’t take long for the “smiley” box to catch on and become a ritual in our home. The neighbor kids would walk in, tell Mom their problem and make a beeline for the smiley box to put their cares to rest and put on a happy face.
We never knew what kind of problem would go in the smiley box. It didn’t seem to matter. Once the frown disappeared and the smile was put on, it was like a brand new kid had walked through the door. We would play as we usually did. If a problem erupted and somebody lost their smile, they had to go back to the smiley box and put it back on. Then things would be back to normal again.
Many years have passed since then. We moved to the country and the other kids grew up and moved away also and we rarely hear from them. Things have changed but my memories haven’t. Usually, when I pass by my old house in town, it looks barren and the yard is empty. But, if I close my eyes really tight, I can envision a yard full of kids, smiling as they play. Sometimes, if I peer inside the windows of my heart, I can still see that smiley box sitting peacefully on top of the TV, like a Comforter waiting to mend broken hearts and renew broken spirits. Then, in a flash it is gone and I am an adult again stuck in the middle of a complicated and pushy society. But my heart seen it and will forever cherish the love and memories contained in Mom’s smiley box.
Smiley boxes come in all shapes and sizes. Do you have a smiley box? Somewhere to put your pain? Perhaps, it’s a journal, the pages filled with the mixed emotions of your adolescence. Perhaps, it’s a diary revealing your latest crush. Maybe, it’s a sanctuary with an altar, where you can lay your burdens down and walk away much lighter. Whatever the case, doesn’t it feel good to have a special place to share your deepest secrets? Perhaps, the secret of life can be found in the simplest of treasures, like a tiny, green satin box.
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