“No matter what age you are, or what your circumstances might be, you are special, and you still have something unique to offer. Your life, because of who you are, has meaning.” ~ Barbara De Angelis

I have been busy lately. We have all been busy lately. Everyone I talk to right now is busy. Busy, busy, busy.  But in all the busyness I have moments where all the people who I need to call, write, email, call, see, and call some more are top of mind. Swirling. Trying to find the time.  How to not short change our conversations with the limited time we have. But then, I realize, sometimes it’s just the trying that counts. To say, I had a few minutes and am thinking of you. Today, I got this email forward from a dear friend who I have been playing phone tag with for months.

Her only words were, “to my special few.”

So today, I am sharing it with you all, because it means something. To tell the people we love that they mean something. Small or big. To just type it, call it in, text it,  or share a kind word in person. It can change so much beyond what we may ever know. Mean so much beyond what we can ever know.

So today, while I have the most wonderful post to write about our past few weeks and all those that have “shown up,”  I have decided I am going to be spreading joy of another kind. To thank my dear friend, Y, all my other friends, my family and all of you.  To say, that while we are all busy, today is for saying you are special and wonderful you all mean so much to those around you and you all to me.

I will warn you that as so many of these stories, the perspective in this story is found through hardship, but these hardships are also a reality in our lives so take not the fear but the opportunity and know that sharing this knowledge with those you care about and make today ‘theirnewfavoriteday.” By sharing and receiving this, I hope it’s “younrewfavoriteday” too!

❤ Shannon

Never be too busy for a friend…

One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name.

Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down.

It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.

That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that individual.

On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. ‘Really?’ she heard whispered. ‘I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!’ and, ‘I didn’t know others liked me so much,’ were most of the comments.

No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn’t matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with themselves and one another. That group of students moved on.

Several years later, one of the students was killed in
Iraq and his teacher attended the funeral of that special student. She had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before. He looked so handsome, so mature.

The church was packed with his friends. One by one those who loved him took a last walk by the coffin. The teacher was the last one to bless the coffin.

As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to her. ‘Were you Mark’s math teacher?’ he asked. She nodded: ‘yes.’ Then he said: ‘Mark talked about you a lot.’

After the funeral, most of Mark’s former classmates went together to a luncheon. Mark’s mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with his teacher.

‘We want to show you something,’ his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket ‘They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it.’

Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Mark’s classmates had said about him.

‘Thank you so much for doing that,’ Mark’s mother said. ‘As you can see, Mark treasured it.’

All of Mark’s former classmates started to gather around. Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, ‘I still have my list. It’s in the top drawer of my desk at home.’

Chuck’s wife said, ‘Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album.’

‘I have mine too,’ Marilyn said. ‘It’s in my diary’

Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. ‘I carry this with me at all times,’ Vicki said and without batting an eyelash, she continued: ‘I think we all saved our lists’

That’s when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Mark and for all his friends who would never see him again.

The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end one day. And we don’t know when that one day will be.

So please, tell the people you love and care for, that they are special and important for we know only today and not yet tomorrow..

In the busyness of life, let’s all make the time to tell others we love them or what makes the special. It’s a lovely gift with a lasting effect.

(Image shared from:  http://www.rubypr.com)