You've gotta love the "wave back"

I got the "wave back" early this morning and I'm still basking in the warm afterglow of that rare but most welcome development. The "wave back" is a term I use to refer to exactly what it is -- a "wave back" from another driver after you have waved thanks after he or she granted you entry into a long line of cars.
The "wave back" completes the process. Without it, the whole exercise, as generously as it's granted and as much as it's appreciated, just isn't whole. If you're a driver, you've been there. Waiting to enter that traffic jam from a side road or parking lot exit, wearing your best "Please have mercy" face. Suddenly, a kind motorist stops and grants you entry into the land of the exhausting. You nudge forward, all the while waving to the stranger in acknowledgment of his or her kindness. But you get nothing in return. Nothing. Not a head nod nor a small wave from fingers upraised from the steering wheel. Not even a small toot from the horn. Nothing. So you're left wondering maybe, just maybe, he or she wasn't really letting you in line. Maybe his or her car stalled briefly or they had a mental lapse. Maybe, oh God, maybe you just butted in.
The "wave back" confirms the whole process. It makes it complete, leaving no such lingering doubt. This morning's "wave back," from a woman I most likely will never meet again, created an instant bond. No matter where we each go, whatever we do, we'll always be linked by our mutual courtesy; an act of kindness initiated by her, taken advantage of by myself and closed out by her. In my world, strange as it is, that's about as perfect as it gets.