23 Nov The Transforming Power of Love
One of our favorite restaurants in Phoenix is next to a sweet shop the chef also owns. The sweet shop is charming, with bins of old-fashioned candies, a glass case full of fresh baked goods and homemade ice cream made with local cream.
A chalkboard behind the counter details the flavors of the day and the available toppings. The standard sundae toppings – hot fudge, salty caramel, toffee, nuts – are available for a nominal fee. There are also four free toppings: sprinkles, whipped cream, a cherry on top and love.
When the girls order their children’s meal at the restaurant next door, it is served on a portioned tray with individual spots for the different foods. In the far left corner of the plate is the thing the girls look forward to most – a red card they can take to the sweet shop next door and exchange for a single scoop of ice cream.
Now that the girls are a bit older, they try out their independence by walking hand in hand to the sweet shop and bringing back their ice cream to the table.
On this Saturday night, Emma brought back a cup full of Oreo ice cream. Ella brought back a cone of dark chocolate. They dug into their desserts.
“How is it?” I asked.
“It’s good,” Emma replied, “but not as good as normal.”
This surprised me. Normally this question was answered with an enthusiastic “Delicious!”
“We forgot to ask for toppings,” Ella explained.
“It doesn’t taste as good because it doesn’t have sprinkles and love on top,” Emma added.
As I watched them eat their not-as-delicious-as-normal ice cream, I thought about the way seemingly small things – such as the seemingly invisible addition of love to an ice cream cone – can lead to large differences.
There’s something special about the addition of love. Maybe it was in the extra care and patience with which the ice cream scooper carefully sprinkled the love out of the jar labeled “love” or the wide smile as the cone was handed over, with a reminder to hold it tight so the love would stay on top. It is in these small ways of seeing and being with others that we recognize the transformative power of love.
Love is in the way we do whatever it is we do. A little bit of it makes everything better.
Wishing you a holiday sprinkled with love.