The Girl Who Couldn't Read

Today when I was at the checkout counter, I noticed a table set up by the front. It was a "Gingerbread House Workshop" that the store will have every Saturday in December, where kids can put together their own gingerbread houses with the aid of store workers, to show them how. I recognized one of the helpers there, it was a girl who was hired around the same time I was. We were at the same Safety Orientation, in which new-hires are required to attend a meeting to go over all the safety rules. At that orientation, there were about 25 people seated around a table. We were all handed a booklet, and the woman who ran the thing had us all read a safety rule out loud, then the next person, and so on...
Naturally, instead of listening to what was being read, I counted the people along the table and counted the numbered paragraphs, to match the one I would have to read, and silently 'rehearsed'....
When it was my turn, I was actually disappointed that my bit was short, "Never place your hands on a hot surface."
Then it was this girl's turn...it was quite obvious, though being a high school graduate, she basically could not read.
"uhh..all..all ways..use...caw...cahh...catch....ummm...sorry...caww...uhh...when...de..dil..."
The poor thing, her face was turning red, and I think everyone in the room was embarrassed for her. Fortunately the presenter took over reading it for her.
Maybe she was just nervous, but as I watched, she seemed like she just didn't know the words, she couldn't read.
So today, there she was...from the bakery department helping the kids build their gingerbread houses.
And she was beaming, clearly in her element with the kids. And the kids loved her! she was doing a great job showing them how to build those houses...
As I watched, I thought of that safety meeting and how she must have felt so embarrassed.
It made me think of all the times when we all feel like we've been so far down...small...
but all it takes is a certain day or a certain place, even if it's just an afternoon, when you feel whole and alive again.
Seeing her today made me feel this way.