Mary’s Front Door

3/7/25

Author’s note: Some of you know that I really haven’t felt much like writing since my mom passed a year ago. This is a sweet little piece I wrote last November about how those small things we do can often have a huge impact on others. I hope you enjoy it!

Mary’s Front Door

The first sign I ever saw on Mary’s front door said, “I think I’ll just be HAPPY today.” I was working as a manager at an independent retirement community, and I was on my way to check on another resident when I walked past Mary’s door that day.

I knew that Mary was in her late 80’s and was grieving the recent loss of her husband of many years. She was like many of the residents of our community who were dealing with the losses of spouses and friends, as well as the health issues and challenges that come with age. I stopped for a moment and considered the words on her door. If Mary could choose to be happy, then so could all of us! After all, wasn’t happiness a choice?

A little farther down the hallway I saw one of the maintenance men for the community. I asked if he had seen the sign on Mary’s door. He said he had. “I try to go by her door at least once a week to see what the signs say. The things she puts out there encourage me, especially when I’m having a difficult week.”

Many of our residents decorated their doors and I hadn’t noticed that Mary put up a new and encouraging sign every week. But after that day, I made a point of walking past her door at least once a week and her signs always made me smile. I learned that other staff members knew about Mary’s signs and also walked past her door for a weekly dose of encouragement.

In the weeks that followed, the signs on Mary’s door said things like, “Let’s make today amazing” and “The best is yet to be” and my very favorite, “If you get tired, learn to rest, not to quit.” Hanging the signs on her door was such a small gesture each week but it had such a big impact on our community of residents and staff.

Mary was a retired elementary school teacher, and I could only imagine how many hundreds of young lives she had inspired and encouraged during her career. In spite of her own sadness, she was still finding a way to encourage the people around her.

One day, I was scheduled to complete Mary’s annual apartment inspection for needed repairs and when I got to her door, the sign said, “Life’s little moments make the best memories.” After I completed her apartment inspection, I asked Mary about her signs and she said she thought they would be a good reminder for her neighbors to keep moving forward and to have a good outlook and not give up, no matter what kinds of things they were dealing with in their lives. I asked if she knew that staff members also walked past her door to see what encouraging note she had out each week. She smiled and said she hadn’t been aware of that.

Later that day back in my office, I received a call from Mary. She said, “I’ve been thinking about our earlier conversation. I started putting out my signs to encourage others but the responses I’ve received about the signs are helping me with my grief. Finding new signs to encourage others continues to help me too. I have to do this for me, but I love the smiles and comments I receive about my signs. Sometimes, I get notes from people I don’t even know because they saw one of my signs and then we end up becoming friends.”

As the weeks and months passed, I noticed that Mary would reuse some of the same signs with new ones thrown in the mix now and then. Both staff and residents would make a point of passing Mary’s door each week to read signs that said things like: “You are my sunshine” “When words fail music speaks” and “This is the day that the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it.”

At Easter, Mary’s door had a sign that said, “Every bunny Welcome.” A week or two after Easter, I was in my local Hobby Lobby and I saw a sign that made me think of Mary’s front door, so I bought it for her. It was bordered with flowers and said, “It’s your time to bloom.” Without knocking, I left it in the mailbox outside her door. The following week, when I passed her door, the new sign I had left for her was hanging there.

It’s been about four years since I saw that first sign on Mary’s front door. And yes, Mary is in her 90’s now and she is still hanging a sign on her door every week. I teased her recently about her sign collection and she said she might need a bigger apartment to house them all!

The most recent sign I saw on Mary’s door said, “If you can be anything, be kind.” Yes indeed, Mary, yes indeed.