A Smiley Heart , Behind A Smiley Face!

It was a busy day, full of meetings. I hardly could sit and concentrate on doing work. We also had our annual community day, with different activities and festivities. The weather was a record breaking 100 degrees. I probably could not walk much even if I wanted. I saw a boot with a long line. People were waiting to get the autograph of an astronaut. I saw our secretary in line. "I have only 5 minutes till my next meeting", I said sadly to her. "I can get you an autograph if you like", she says. "Sure, thank you!", and I left happily.

Our secretary is in her early twenties. She takes care of all our administrative needs. She books our flights and hotels, takes care of their reimbursements, and fills out all sorts of forms for different things. Next week she is getting married. Some colleagues were planning to collect money to get her a gift.

I went and made my contribution and signed the card after my meeting. "Do you know what you are going to get her?", I asked the lady who was collecting the money. "I think we are just going to give her the cash", she replied. Then, she went on explaining how our secretary had told her she wanted to stay in a nice hotel on her wedding night but it was too expensive for her. It was heartbreaking. I felt so bad having given her the receipts for my most recent trip before she takes off for her wedding. I felt bad because she always does her best to make us happy, without any sad or negative feelings. You would have never guessed her situation from her positive attitude and always-smiley face. There I was staying at the nicest hotel for four nights for work and she could not afford to do so at her own wedding night. I could not resist increasing my contribution after hearing her sad story, wishing her her dream wedding night.

I was in these thoughts that my phone rang. "Hi, I got you that autograph you wanted, it is in your mailbox!". I go and pick it up. She even made him spell my unusual name. It tells me "Reach for your star!".