30

I know I just wrote a note about my brother, but he called this morning and made my day. I'd like to remember it here.

After the usual chitchat about our mother and the system working in the gulf, I asked him how the beach was. His answer never wavers. Perfect. He always says his time at the beach was perfect. Did you find any sand dollars I wondered and he said after a brief while he quit looking. He's good at finding them ... if they were plentiful he'd have known it quickly ... and the hunt is more about checking for them then actually acquiring them. "The shoreline was without ripple" he went on to say that he saw only one shell and he mentioned only one other soul present in his morning stroll. A young woman with Downs Syndrome was sitting in a beach chair rocking back and forth with the waves. His voice conveyed the tenderness that his laughing eyes tries to mask. He said good morning to her and held out his lone find. She studied it for several moments before silently lifting it on an open palm back to him. "It's for you little lady" and she smiled as her hand closed around it. His was so happy to have a gift for her. My brother ... collector of smiles.