What a FABULOUS day of LOVE this has been! No, I AM NOT in a special-relationship with anyone.

When parking to go to my Laughter Wellness event at a local Department Store community room, today – I happened to see a ‘DADDY’ unpacking his little boy and girl toddlers from their vehicle. Then, they all LINKED hands and started to walk SAFELY towards the main entrance!

I had to LAUGH and SMILE to myself! I INSTANTLY ‘felt the LOVE!’ There they were, in LOVING embrace and I thought: Aw! It’s the LOVE CHAIN! then the song came to mind – GET ON BOARD THE LOVE TRAIN! ha ha What an endearing moment! Perfect for VALENTINE’S DAY!

As I approached the main entrance, I mentioned it to another woman walking along. She ended up Holding the Door FOR ME! I said: I used to have a fun friend who would RUN THROUGH the door whenever I opened it and announce: THANK YOU! What a fun memory. When the woman opened the 2ND door for me – I ran through and announced: THANK YOU! We both laughed. I just LOVE playing and letting the little kid out!

So then I saw an employee walking down the aisle with a clip board in his hand. I said to him: Are you TAKING NAMES!? He ‘played along’ and said: YES, I am! *smile

When I approached the elevator/stair area the back of the stoor – a tall, business-suit looking woman HELD the stairwell door for me! Not only THAT! she held the ELEVATOR door for me! I announced: THANK YOU VERY MUCH! and followed up with HAPPY VALENTINES DAY! She thanked me and wished it back to me!

Wow! Random Acts of Kindness and LOVE being SHOWERED all around me!

When I conducted my Laughter Wellness program – my BRAVE group of souls – now in their 3rd session – fully participated and FREELY gave COMPLIMENTS on my worth! WOW!

The day continued on in this manner!

What a FANTABULOUS VALENTINE’S DAY FILLED WITH LOVE, KINDNESS, PLAYFULNESS AND GIVINGNESS! No cards, no flowers, no chocolates – just a DAY FULL OF LOVE!

What more could I ask for?

Ha Ha Helen Szollosy of LAFOLOT.com
FEELING THE LOVE …
LIVE LIFE! LAUGH OFTEN! and Live Life in AH! MAZEMENT!

Being in the throes of menopause as well as dealing with a week of overcast skies; yesterday was a bit gloomy. I went to my favorite Thai Palace restaurant for lunch. The owners Lily and Xay are always friendly and accommodating as well as their servers Heli, Pen, and Mai. I feel like a Queen while dining there. So, having a gloomy day – what a surprise it was when Lily brought my lunch special with a side of rice in the shape of a Heart! It put an instant smile on my face, and I let her know it was appreciated!

Another friend sent me an e-mail the other day about going through life and not saying ‘I love you’ to the people you cherish. I had to laugh, because that phrase wasn’t mentioned in my household. I’m not saying there wasn’t caring and concern, just not the verbal mention. Hence, I don’t relate much to the phrase. I feel actions speak louder than words.

I remember tagging along with my mom to my grandparent’s house when I was 4 or 5. My grandfather would sit at the kitchen table; a stocky, dark haired-bald in front, dark brown eyed man with glasses. As a child, I was afraid of him. I was afraid of a lot of people that were taller and bigger than me. I remember my mother telling me to go say ‘Hello’ to Grand Pop and he would hold out a quarter for me.

It didn’t relieve my fear; and shortly after – he passed on of a heart attack while sleeping, around age 62.

Growing up in a household with challenges of alcohol, prescription drugs, and brain damage (amongst family members), I am grateful I had a roof over my head, meals and got my High School diploma. I realized later on, one of my mom’s ways of expressing her love was to give money to her kids.
Initially, as a teenager and young adult, it angered me; because I felt I was being bought. As I got older, I realized it was her way of expressing her love.

So, when I entered 12-Step programs for Adult Children of Alcoholics and Overeaters Anonymous, I sent my sponsor a card one day. I wrote inside: ‘I feel you are worth the money I spent on the card and the stamp!’ She laughed when I told her that was worth all the gold in the world coming from me, with my strong budget-mindedness! Ha ha, she let me know she would cherish it.

When my friend sent me the e-mail the other day, I let her know some of the above information and responded with: AND HERE’S SOME CASH FOR YOU, TOO! I mean it, from the bottom of my heart!
I forwarded the e-mail to another friend that would understand, and sent her an e-mail with VIRTUAL CASH, from the bottom of my heart! She wrote back, ‘I LOVE you, too!’ *smile

When I got the Rice Heart the other day; I could accept it as a gift of LOVE from a local restaurant owner, along with her husband. Xay makes sure to prepare my food ‘just the way I like it!’ Even if Xay says he has to wash his hands to get all the hot pepper off after he makes it! I like my food No. 10, Thai Hot!

So, to all my friends reading this out there; here is some virtual cash, and I mean it, from the bottom of my heart!

Highlighted Ha Ha Helen of LAFOLOT
…have a virtual quarter and a Rice Heart to go along with it! I’m feeling generous!
Feel the LOVE!

Addendum: The GIFT of GIVING keeps on giving and giving and giving!

When I went to dine at Thai Palace for lunch, I let the owner and staff know I had written about them on my blog, due to their kindness. When I was done eating lunch, I passed two diners in a booth. The woman mentioned that her male friend admired that I was sitting in the booth with all the sunlight. He noted that I was glowing in the light. I said, WOW, I just wrote a blog on this very thing! I told her, ‘You made my day!’ I said: ‘I’ve been a bit down, because of the overcast weather, and you’ve given me a gift with that compliment!’ She smiled and thanked me. The, she noted that she knew me from a Summer event where I had my LAFOLOT table set up. She gave me ANOTHER gift by sharing that she still had my ‘Live Life! Laugh Often!’ bumper display on her vehicle! I was thrilled, and told her so. I told her I was feeling down that my message wasn’t getting out there, and she just assured me that it was!

So, when you give the gift of a compliment and noting how people have impacted your life in a positive way; it comes back to you ten times over!

Feel the love… in a compliment and sharing of a kind word!
[This blog can also be seen at Vibrant Nation, a website for women over 50. It's full of wonderful information and sharing.]