Smile though your heart is breaking

I don't know why but I was just remembering a woman I once saw. I had gone out to eat breakfast with my mom and my now ex fiance. While we were waiting for our food another party being seated walked past.

Among the group was this amazing woman. She stood tall, dressed in a fancy long purple coat with fuzzy collar and a large brimmed purple hat with big white feathers bordering the top. She also walked with a cane. I don't think she needed the cane as she was relatively young but she walked with it never the less, smiling and nodding graciously to all she passed.

At first the whole room was transfixed but after a while got to whispering amongst themselves, my table included. My mother bf and I speculated on what would possibly make someone dress that way and I suppose the whole restaurant was doing the same.

Finally the excitement died down a bit but there was one small boy who continued to stare at the woman, never breaking contact. She smiled to him sweetly as she talked among her friends. She spoke with her hands, gesturing grandly like a starlet from Fellini. Finally she stood up and walked to his table where she reached in the pocket of her purple coat and laid in front of him a handfull of gold coin chocolates. The family thanked her, the boy still stared but smiled. Graceful and still smiling herself she went back to her own chair.

She was the biggest thing in the room and oddly enough she seemed so much more REAL. Everyone stared and whispered and smiled. That was the amazing thing, everyone smiled. I wonder what it would be like to be the kind of person who makes everyone they meet, smile.

I don't know what made me think of her really. I guess I was feeling melancholy and I've always wondered if that woman was like that all the time or if she did that to make herself smile too.