Our family reunion has been an annual event for as long as Jack Sawyer, the teenaged one, can remember. This weekend, 23 of us gathered at my younger sister's home in Toledo.

   Now a patriarch, I stood back & watched as various dear relatives entered & left the room, how they reacted to each other, how the atmosphere changed a bit with each rearrangement of people, how some responded as my daughter brought forth pictures of ancestors from more than a century ago, & how 22 of the 23 reacted with particular joy as the 23rd appeared.

   When my son put his son Reed down & the 19 month-old began scampering around & laughing every single person found themselves laughing as well – joyful in the presence of…of what? Hope, of course. And innocence as well. 

   As the rest observed learned manners the littlest ran free. People under two-years old have a wide berth to behave as their spirits move them. What happiness he brought to everyone each time he appeared.

   What happens when a caregiver enters a room? Does a patient's energy rise or fall? What occurs in the meeting room when a leader enters? What is the atmosphere in a hospital run by a leader of light versus a boss whose main tool is fear?

-Erie Chapman