June 11

Every once in awhile, I'll find myself walking around and hearing a small voice in my head say, "Wasn't I lucky to be born in my favorite city?" The voice is that of little 8-year-old actress Margaret O'Brien, playing the character of Tootie on "Meet Me in St. Louis." It's from a scene where she's riding along in an ice wagon and talking to the driver about how St. Louis is to host the World's Fair. It's a movie I've seen many times, and that line always stood out to me, because she's so darn cute, and you want to say to her, "Yes, you are in fact a lucky, spoiled girl." Anyway, that line often plays through my head when I feel especially grateful for my surroundings -- even if I'm not in Boise, the city where I was born, or in St. Louis, like Tootie.

It happened yesterday when I took a quick stroll around the Whitworth campus to get some fresh air to wake myself up on a Monday morning.