It’s that time of year … Unthanked people – spring

Dear Difference Maker,

It’s that time of year …

Spring Season Brings Recognition Award Banquets,
Appreciation Days and Weeks

Coming up over the next few weeks are: Administrative Professionals Day April 27, National Secretaries Week ǀ Professional Secretaries Week: April 24 – 30, Teacher Appreciation Week: May 2 – 6, Nurse Appreciation Week: May 6-12, Mother’s Day: May 8, Father’s Day June 19 and Graduations …

25 FREE I Make A Difference wristbands ends soon …

When time runs out, that’s it for quite a while.

Here is a true story I think you will find interesting by  Steve Goodier, One Minute Can Change A Life:

Unthanked People

When William Stidger taught at Boston University, he once reflected upon the great number of un-thanked people in his life. Those who had helped nurture him, inspire him or who cared enough about him to leave a lasting impression.

One was a schoolteacher he’d not heard of in many years. But he remembered that she had gone out of her way to put a love of verse in him, and Will had loved poetry all his life. He wrote a letter of thanks to her.

The reply he received, written in the feeble scrawl of the aged, began, “My dear Willie.” He was delighted. Now over 50, bald and a professor, he didn’t think there was a person left in the world who would call him “Willie.”

Here is that letter:

My dear Willie,
I cannot tell you how much your note meant to me. I am in my eighties, living alone in a small room, cooking my own meals, lonely and, like the last leaf of autumn, lingering behind. You will be interested to know that I taught school for 50 years and yours is the first note of appreciation I ever received. It came on a blue-cold morning, and it cheered me as nothing has in many years.

Not prone to cry easily, Will wept over that note. She was one of the great un-thanked people from Will’s past. You know them. We all do.

The teacher who made a difference. That coach we’ll never forget. The music instructor or Sunday school worker who helped us to believe in ourselves. That Scout leader who cared.  That administrative professional who acknowledged and acted upon our concerns.  The nurse who comforted us during our recovery.  The neighbor across the street who always checks in with you to see if you are alright and so on …

We all remember people who shaped our lives in various ways. People whose influence changed us. Will Stidger found a way to show his appreciation — he reached out and made a point to acknowledge them directly.

Who are some of the un-thanked people from your past?

It may not be too late to say, “Thanks for the difference you make in my life.”

Another interesting benefit to Acknowledgment is what it does for you!

There’s not much else to say, really …

Except grab your 25 FREE I Make A Difference Wristbands, now!

Reaching out …

Founder of Heart Productions & Publishing LLC, the Pacific Northwest