She disappeared around the side of the boat parked in the driveway, as I stood talking to her grandfather, who was trying to keep one eye on her and the other on the puppy whose leash I was handing him.

A moment later, she stood in front of me, tiny yet beaming in her mismatched purple princess shirt and neon orange pants. She clutched a very short-stemmed yellow tulip in her hand, and looking up at me with very earnest three year old eyes, she proudly presented me with the flower and said, “for you. It’s a gift.”

Had this  tiny human I’d just met for the first time known I needed a little sunshine in my world this morning? Or was it just toddler impulse that caused her to scurry over to the yard next door, break off a tulip flower and present it to the stranger who was leaving her dog with  Poppa  for the day?

Doesn’t matter, really.

The unexpected gift from a sunny little girl was a blessing to me today.

What unexpected gift might you give to someone you meet?