I received the loveliest phone call of my life this afternoon from Nevaeh’s grandmother – remember Nevaeh? Her birthday was yesterday.

So her grandmother, who is such a wonderful person, calls me to tell me thank you for the cupcakes and the gifts and she’s gushing and telling me that I should open a bakery because these cupcakes were so fabulous. I’m laughing and my face is red and I’m saying oh, come on, thanks but they’re just cupcakes, and she says Sara, you don’t understand, these weren’t just cupcakes, they were beautiful and delicious, and I’m not joking about this bakery thing – I’ll back you financially!

And I’m all, yeah, ok, let’s go there Miss Jackie. I guarantee you’ll regret that decision.

And then she says, “I just wanted to thank you for everything – it was so thoughtful, and it really, really made an impact on Nevaeh.”

And again, I say, “Oh, I’m so glad!”

But she says, “Sara, I’m serious. I think sometimes people don’t realize that the little things they do are actually a big deal to the people on the receiving end. This made Nevaeh’s birthday very special, but it also deeply affected her. I can’t thank you enough for this.”

Now I know what you’re thinking – ok, Sara, take the compliment and stop sharing it with the world, right? But I’m not looking for bragging rights, here.

For the last week and a half or so, I’ve been wandering around here in a stupor pondering the purpose of getting out of bed in the morning. I know that sounds dramatic and morbid, but seriously – you go through a lifetime of emotional craziness, die, and then what?

I believe that life is without purpose if you can’t make a difference to someone else, and lately I’ve felt that it’s almost impossible to make any kind of a difference in the world.

The fact that this woman made a very special effort to say thank you, my day was better because of something you did, was really huge for me right now. It made my day infinitely better. It was something really tiny, but it gave me enough hope to make it through the week without driving off a bridge.

So the reason I’m posting this is to ask anyone who might actually be reading this to do something small. I know, I know, it’s cheesy-pay-it-forward-type-stuff, but for me, it was still a really big deal.

And also, my husband made me feel guilty about yesterday’s post.

But really – it was mostly the “do something small” thing. I promise.