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Rocky Friz via Unsplash

What A Wonderful World When You See Genuine Joy in Someone’s Eyes

One of the highlights of our summer was a bucket-list cruise to Alaska. But it turned out that the most significant memory from the trip came from the most unexpected experience.

We spent eight days on a cruise ship with about 700 other passengers, and we made four stops along the way that led to some wonderful adventures on both land and sea. We flew over glaciers in a helicopter, rode on dog sleds, biked down a mountain, and saw salmon attempt to leap up waterfalls and whales glide through the ocean.

Along the way, we befriended people from all over the world. But our interactions with one couple in particular provided a powerful and emotional reminder of the positive impact anyone can have by simply doing the right thing when sharing space with other people.

Early on in our trip, Sue and I were fortunate to land a reservation for dinner at one of the best of about 10 restaurants on the ship, and that’s when we met Wendy. But Wendy wasn’t another tourist. She was our server.

Wendy was from Zimbabwe, a country Sue and I had passed through for a day a few years ago while on a trip to Africa. We knew from that brief experience that Zimbabwe is an extremely poor country with a history of conflict and poor leadership.

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We interacted every day with staff members on the ship who were from similarly poor countries, but none of them bemoaned their lives. They seemed genuinely grateful for a good job that allowed them to send money back to their families.

Wendy exemplified that gratitude. She had an electric smile, and we found ourselves having pleasant conversations with her as she went about her work. After our meal, we told her how much we appreciated her fine service – not just that she did her job technically well, but that by her personality and our interactions with her she had made the experience beyond enjoyable. Then we added that we enjoyed the music and asked that she convey our appreciation to the singer who had performed that evening.

“Well, you know, on the last night of the cruise,” Wendy said, “I actually sing a song.” She paused and with a bit of hesitation asked, “Would you like to come and hear me sing?”

We said we would love that and asked for a few more details. At 9 p.m. on the last evening, when the main singer finishes her set, Wendy told us she would take the stage and sing one song.

“We will be there!” we told her.

Wendy’s boss, a pleasant man from the Philippines, saw us a couple of times during the week, and each time he asked if we really planned to come. We told him we were looking forward to it. And on that final night we went to one of the other restaurants with plans to go see Wendy after eating dinner.

The server in this restaurant was Daniel, and it just so happened that he was Wendy’s husband! They had two children, he told us, one who was two years old and the other five years old. The children stayed with Wendy’s mother in Zimbabwe for the nine months he and Wendy were working on the cruise ship. What an incredible sacrifice, we thought, to help provide for their family.

Of course, we told Daniel that we were planning to see Wendy sing that night.

“You’re going to see Wendy sing?” he said with excitement. “Oh, she loves to sing. She sings the last song of the cruise, and everybody loves it.”

He assured us that she would be very happy to have us there, and, in fact, she might have been a little too happy. A few minutes before 9 p.m., we walked into the restaurant where Wendy worked and looked for a seat at the bar. She was delivering a beer to a nearby table and got so excited when she noticed us that she dropped the beverage and it shattered on the floor. She was embarrassed, of course, but quickly went to get another one for her customer while her boss cleaned up the mess.

“She has been asking me all week if you really would come,” her boss told us. “I kept telling her that you would. So I’m so glad you are here!”

A few minutes later, Wendy took the stage and delivered a beautiful rendition of the Louis Armstrong classic, “What A Wonderful World.” Sue and I fought back tears, but there was no stopping them when Wendy finished her song, walked to the bar, and gave us each a big hug.

“I just can’t believe you came,” she said through tears of her own. “It means so much to me that you came to see me sing tonight.”

And there in her hugs and a shower of gratitude for what we had seen as the simple act of keeping a promise we experienced the greatest life lesson and memory of the trip. You see, we went on vacation to see all the beautiful things Alaska can offer. But the most beautiful thing was the impact we saw on Wendy’s life just by us showing up.

Indeed, what a wonderful world.

Comments

  1. Bonnie Boeshart Roberts

    Your heartwarming story about Wendy reminds me of not only the wonderful service provided by the people working in the service industry, but of the friendship and hospitality provided. It makes a great vacation feel personal.

    Reply to Bonnie Boeshart Roberts

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