What do you notice first, the face or a voice? What do you connect with first?

I consider myself a very observant person. As a teacher of 33 years I would even pose situations whereby I could teach children the skill of observation. Yet there are so many people who never notice anything in their every day world.

I notice first a voice when I meet a new person.  I connect first with with a voice when I am out and about and just listening, again with a keen ear.

Today reminded me of that skill and I thought I would share it with you.

I had a LOW TIRE PRESSURE light come onto my dashboard on Friday morning. I had a very busy day lined up and I had no time for an appointment at a tire store.  I stopped in at Spartan Tire on Old 23 and in no time, a nice worker came out, checked the air pressure in all of my tires and said, "I will probably see you at the end of your day as you are to have 30 pounds of air in your tires and that back right tire only had ten pounds of air." His voice was friendly and deep in tone. I asked him the fee for this air and chat and he said, "It is only air," with a smile on his face and a very friendly voice.

Well, my day unfolded. At the end of my day around 5:35 I drove back to the tire store and of course knew, I would be added to tomorrow's docket. Why would anyone take on a customer on a Friday night at 5:50 p.m. And I totally understand because I believe we all need a two day weekend to renew and rewind and reorganize. Yet the person taking me into the schedule also had a very friendly voice.

So my Saturday appointment was at 10:30 a.m. I arrived early, thinking perhaps I could be taken in early and I was.  I sat with a cluster of people waiting in chairs lined up in front of a TV.  I am not a TV watcher so I moved my chair to the window to grab some sunshine and to enjoy the art of simply watching people.

People did not fail to disappoint me.

Well, time passed and my mine was focused on a fight between two mail swans at the water's edge right on Grand River when I recognized the voice of a man whom I admire.  His name is Dave Keller from Keller Wells. He has been at my house many times in our 31 years of living in our stone house and often he has shared with me a high price to fix our problem. Yet I always enjoyed his voice, his smiling face and his words of wisdom that he would share with me about life in general either while he was assessing our situation or just before leaving our house..

Today it was the same. I heard him share with a salesman some jackets he had brought his way. I heard him ask the salesman how his hunting has turned out this past fall. After the men had exchanged their stories of hunting luck or just observation I then heard him share his words of wisdom with that man stating, "These are the special times you will have with your daughter, whether you got your wanted target or not." I then watched him walk to his Keller Wells truck and leave.

It was not important for me to say hi to Mr. Keller.  It was only important for me to be thankful for his voice that I so easily recognized and a voice I so easily enjoy. His smiling face is also very special.

My grandparents are both deceased. I can recall their faces, their words of wisdom, but I can hardly recall their voices.  Soon it may be the same with the voice of my father whom just died this November.  I should have recorded their voices so that I would always have that to pull up at times when I missed them so.

So as I end today, what do you notice about a person?  Some people have those faces and voices that just invite people to trust them, that invite people into their lives and I so love those people with those faces and those remarkable trusting voices.

Diana Grant