A Similar Greeting

I went to a large high school.
There were 4,000 students in the entire school.
There were 1,000 students in my graduating class.
Only the first student and the last student were named at our actual graduation ceremony.

All the students in between those two names were graduated on the spot, en masse.
We all threw our hats in the air at the outdoor ceremony.
And just like that, four years were completed.
And just like that, many of us went on to college.

As you can imagine, the hallways were crowded as we went from one class to another.
We walked down the hallway on one side and up the hallway on the other.
We carried our books in our arms, bringing only what we needed until lunch.
We went to our locker at lunch time to return the morning books and get the afternoon ones.

As I walked down the hallway, I saw people I knew.
I would quickly talked to a friend but mostly just said, Hi to those I passed.
I loved changing classes and seeing people.
For me, that time between classes was invigorating.

I walked with a friend who was in my next class.
I grabbed a few moments with others until I could talk more at lunch or study hall.
Changing classes was something I happily anticipated.
It was a wonderful way to break up the day.

I enjoy people.
I enjoy conversation.
My children tease me that I always see someone I know whenever we go somewhere.
That began back in my high school days.

I got a yearbook every year; however, my senior yearbook was very special to me.
It was bittersweet to have friends sign my yearbook.
I couldn’t wait to read whatever they wrote.
Some teachers even let us have a bit of time at the end of class to sign yearbooks.

I still have my senior yearbook.
That was the only one I saved.
I have pulled that yearbook out from time to time to find someone in it.
I will never forget you was sincerely written, but time and distance have a way of changing that.

One yearbook page still makes me smile.
The entry simply says: Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi!
P.S. Hi!
Apparently, that captured me at that time, and probably now, as well.

I haven’t thought about that entry until this past weekend.
Two of our granddaughters were here for a long weekend.
My littlest granddaughter will be one-year-old next month.
She made us laugh all weekend.

You simply look at her and she says, Hi!
Or she says, Hi, until you look at her.
In fact, she will say it over and over.
She likes when you say it back to her: hi. HI. hi. Hi…

My husband looked at me and laughed.
She’s just like you!
I knew what he meant; he was thinking back to high school.
It made my heart happy that my little granddaughter enjoys saying that word.

Greet one another with a holy kiss. (2 Corinthians 13:12)

Greeting each other is important.
Extending hospitality to others is important.
Showing kindness to others is important.
Loving each other is important.

A smile and a hello are the easiest ways to greet another person.
That kind of greeting may seem simple, but it can really make a difference in someone’s day.
Hi! Hi! Hi! is simple but meaningful.
It is actually a blessing.

Perhaps my granddaughter likes the sound of Hi.
Perhaps she likes the smiles she gets from us.
Perhaps she likes when we say, Hi, back to her.
The legacy continues.

My heart is happy.