A sudden wave of warm weather arrived. On a fiercely windy evening, I finished my usual walk around the park and stood at the intersection, waiting for the light to change.
That’s when a father pedaling a bicycle, with a little girl around two years old sitting in the back, pulled up next to me. The girl and I locked eyes. I decided to wave at her. To my delight, she waved right back.
The light still hadn’t changed. She kept staring straight at me. It felt a bit awkward to just look away, so I hesitated for a moment, wondering how to fill the time. I decided to give her a big smile. She really was such an adorable kid.
Then, out of nowhere, she blew me a kiss! So, I blew one right back to her.
The light finally turned green. We exchanged one last wave goodbye, and I watched them ride away into the distance.
It was my first day back at work after a two-week vacation, and it had been a brutally busy day. By the evening, I was feeling completely drained. But on a day when you get a blown kiss from a child that cute? You can’t help but think, “Man, it really is good to be alive…” That’s exactly how it made me feel.
…And then, it hit me later. I realized I was actually wearing huge sunglasses the whole time. These ones.
Shié Kasai 
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