Eye-smiling

Victoria Cates, my niece, is a fashion designer with a unique line of vintage wear. She has designed a whimsical line of face masks. She may not be eye-smiling here, but you can see her lovely smile on the "about" page of her website, Potion23. https://potion23.com/pages/about-us

            The subtleties of eye-smiling went underappreciated before the pandemic. Now that everyone’s wearing masks, the importance of expressing welcome through the eyes alone has become an essential social skill. I encountered a young man at our local polling place yesterday who was a champion eye-smiler. As he directed me towards the exit with body language and a masked face, his smiling eyes – crinkled at the edges, shining with sunny friendliness – lit me up. I left with a bounce in my step.
            We may not always be able to hear or understand each other’s speech through the cloth, but genuinely smiling eyes can never be mistaken.
 
My 60th year in 60,000 words
Day 323: 105 words, TOTAL = 52,628; 7,372 remaining