General News
11 October, 2026
Smiles with Sally: Smiles from 1956
Do you ever wonder about the impact you have on other people? Not just today or this week, but years from now?
Do you ever wonder about the impact you have on other people? Not just today or this week, but years from now?
I’ve been thinking about that after being shared a beautiful poem about a smile, written by a 12-year-old girl in 1956, and published in the Horsham High School magazine.
I think we all know people who have left a lasting impression.
People remembered for their kindness, generosity, ability to make others laugh or simply the way they made people feel.
Even years after they are gone, people still talk about them with warmth.
Sadly, some are remembered for very different reasons.
Perhaps they were often negative, difficult to be around or didn’t make people feel particularly good about themselves.
I don’t say that to be harsh.
None of us get everything right.
We all have bad days and make mistakes, but it does make me wonder about what we leave behind.
What will people remember about us when we’re no longer here?
I’m pretty sure Helen Fleming (nee Langlands) had little idea that the poem she wrote as a 12-year-old would still be creating ripples of smiles 70 years later.
Sadly, Helen passed away on 31 August 2026, and those close to her wanted to share her poem.
It may never have been published around the world, and Helen may never have been famous for writing it.
Perhaps that’s what makes it even more special.
A 12-year-old girl wrote some words about a smile in 1956 and, seventy years later, we are privileged to be reading them and smiling.
So here it is:
A SMILE
A smile is quite a funny thing,
It wrinkles up your face;
When it is gone, you’ll never find
Its secret hiding place.
But far more wonderful it is,
To see what smiles can do;
You smile at one, he smiles at you,
And so, one smile makes two.
He smiles at someone since you smiled,
And then that one smiles back,
So, spreading like ripples when a stone is thrown,
You’ll fail in keeping track.
And since a smile can do so much,
By cheering hearts of care,
Let’s smile and smile and not forget,
That smiles go everywhere.
Helen Langlands, 1B3
I love that Helen’s words are still here, but more than that, I love what they remind us about our own legacy.
We don’t have to be famous to make a positive difference in peoples’ lives, or to leave something behind.
It might be a poem, a story, a lesson, a smile, a conversation or simply the way we made someone feel.
We may never know how far those things travel.
So, this week, perhaps think about the ripples you are creating.
Not with pressure to be perfect, but with a little more awareness of the moments you have with other people.
One day, long after we’ve forgotten the things we thought were so important, what might remain is how we made people feel.
Wouldn’t it be lovely to be remembered for that and seventy years later, still be creating a ripple of smiles, like Helen.