Every morning Monday through Friday, I walk the older two boys across the crosswalk to school. We park across the street, always hoping for a spot close to the corner! I grab their backpacks and they run over to the corner and wait patiently for the crosswalk signal. It’s a small mundane routine, ordinary in every way, but it has quietly become one of my favorite parts of the day.

We always start planning before we even get there. “Mama, mama, what should we say??” H is bouncing with excitement. When they started school, I started to ask the kids to think of something to nice say to the crosswalk lady as we go by. H loves to be the one to proclaim some cute statements to brighten the sweet crosswalk lady’s day. “How about ‘You are the rainbow of my day’”, I say, “Or ‘You are like the sun that brightens my morning’”.

They take it very seriously. It truly shows how words and timing matter. There’s a shared anticipation as we approach the corner, their eyes scanning eagerly for the familiar face in the neon vest. When we see her, the boys beam. She beams back. For a few seconds, everything slows. The cars around us are driving by slowly, as people are smiling and connections are made. She gives the boys a hug and exclaims how they too are the rainbow of her day!

After I drop the boys off and turn back, the scene remains the same. The crosswalk fills with a rush of kids and parents, with backpacks swinging, with coffees in hand, with quick glances at their watches. Everyone is trying to make it on time. However, no matter what, some still manage a quick hello or a wave. And of course, others pass through silently, caught in the pull of the day ahead. And that’s life, isn’t it? Some moments we have the energy to invest in others and some moments, we just get caught up in the inner workings of our mind and its worries.

Crosswalks have always felt symbolic to me. When my husband and I lived in New York, they were loud and crowded, with people streaming in every direction, barely slowing down, the city humming with urgency. You crossed because you had to, because the light told you it was time, because there was somewhere else to be.

But even then, the crosswalk was a point of connection. That brief pause could also turn into a shared moment with strangers all moving through their own stories.

Now, standing at this quieter corner each morning, I see it more clearly. Crosswalks are where paths meet, even if only for a heartbeat. These moments, even so short, can warm up our days with simple smiles. These moments connect us with our fellow humans walking through their journeys in life, in all its highs and lows. These moments remind us that we are all intersecting, and each trying to get somewhere, each carrying something unseen.

To embrace the crosswalk is to embrace those fleeting connections. We can choose to look up when we can. To smile or to say something kind, even it’s just for a second, a quick simple “Have a good day!” To remember that in the middle of the rush, we can still be someone’s bright spot. It doesn’t have to be grand or even have to be every day. Perhaps if in those moments, you are being weighed down while crossing and stay silent looking down (which is alright as well), someone else could have the chance to brighten your day instead. And that is something special as well. It is in those quick moments where our lives cross, we all have a chance to make someone feel seen.

And maybe that’s enough.