Smiles in a jar

“The more depressed I got about my struggles, the more my Aunt Claire’s cheerful attitude baffled me. I was a single mother with a special needs son, and I never had enough money to make ends meet. Saying I was stressed and overwhelmed was an understatement.

“But Aunt Claire was no stranger to suffering. She was a widow with failing health, had no family except for me and lived on a strict pension. Whenever I asked her secret to overcoming despair, she’d simply say, ‘I count my blessings.’ I’d smile and shrug, thinking, Okay, but that can’t fix my big problems!

“A few months ago, when my job cut my hours again, I felt as if I would crack. As I cried to Aunt Claire, not knowing how to pull myself out of such hopelessness, she immediately went and got a large Mason jar full of small slips of paper. On it was a label that said, ‘Blessings.’ I watched with interest as Aunt Claire removed the paper strips and unfolded them one by one. As she counted, I read, I have eyes to see the sunrise; my belly is full tonight; I get to spend time with my kind, beautiful niece.

“I blinked back tears at all the sweet moments she’d collected. ‘You can’t feel stressed and blessed at the same time,’ she said with a smile. I grabbed a few scraps of paper, wrote down my own small blessings and felt something I hadn’t in ages: peace and joy.”

—Bernadette Shaw, 43, Tucson, AZ