By Tara – Contributor

[Editor’s Note: This is another blog post that originated from a Facebook post]
I had actively been avoiding social media for months due to the current political climate.

I like to allow free expression in my circle, but I also like to live in the delusion that everyone I associate with thinks the same as I do. I was raised Black in the South, so certain mindsets, behaviors, (microaggressions), and opinions no longer shock me. I know that I have been many people’s ONLY Black friend and I have been many people’s first real conversation with a person of color. But this has nothing to do with the story.

This morning I received a call from one of my WFU friends who I truly lost in the universe of life and time. She said that she was going through old pics and came across some freshman year “gems,” and took a chance that my number would be the same. So we kinda caught with our lives over the last 15+ years.

But them she said the real reason she called was because she was going thru a divorce and she was feeling down and alone.

And when she saw my pic she immediately started laughing and remembered that I always used to make her laugh. And then she thanked me for that.

Now this got me thinking. In the last month or so, I have been blessed to have seen, or talked to quite a few friends that I haven’t seen or heard from in some years. The beautiful part is how we have been able to pick up just like we talked yesterday. The touching part is how almost all of them told me how badly they needed to laugh or see my smile, and how talking to me made their day.

Now truthfully, I am always wondering whether I am making a big difference in the world. Or what more can I do to impact society. And I realized that my impact has always been laughter and genuine kindness. I truly never realized that i was considered that person you called on when your life got low. Cause I was gifted with the ability to make you smile.

I wanna take a moment to thank God and my folks for that.

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It took an early morning call from Pennsylvania to remind me that sometimes the best way I can truly make an impact is by just being myself and being a good friend. I cried a bit after this realization, [be]cause I never think about the implications of my individual interactions. So yay me, I’m not a horrible person. Cause the only thing I can give the world is humor and love, cause Navient gets everything else.

Tara is an attorney in Texas by way of Georgia. Her favorite quote is from her mother: Marry for money, cause love gets old quickly.