I came across the tweet on Twitter: “Thought Of The Day: It only takes a second to make someone feel special, but that second may last a lifetime in their mind. The tweet was produced by Steve Harper, a guy who specializes in teaching The Ripple Effect: Maximizing the Power of Relationships for Life & Business (Second Edition)
Funny, I couldn’t get that tweet out of mind. I copied it and saved it, because I knew a blog post was brewing from it. I thought back to one of my religion school teachers, Mrs. Marshall. She taught a class that prepared a group of us for our confirmation at St. Mary’s Church in Dolton. One Saturday morning, the class was being especially rowdy that day. The boys were boisterous and creating havoc in the classroom and Mrs. Marshall was quickly losing control. All of her attempts to settle down the class were falling on deaf ears. She finally resorted to raising her voice and losing her patience. Everyone eventually settled down to do some paperwork that she handed out. Mrs. Marshall sat back in her chair and I saw tears in her eyes.
My heart went out to her. I got out a sheet of paper and quickly wrote her a note. To this day, I don’t even remember what I wrote, but I wrote a couple of paragraphs about the situation in the classroom and that I thought she was a wonderful teacher. I handed her the note after class had ended.
At the start of the next class, Mrs. Marshall came up to me and thanked me for the note. After my Confirmation in May, she sent me a thank you note for the flowers that I gave her. In the note she shared:
Congratulations on your Confirmation! My wishes for you are these:
When you are lonely, I wish you love.
When you are down, I wish you joy.
When you are troubled, I wish you peace.
When things are complicated, I wish you simple beauty.
When things are chaotic, I wish you inner peace.
When things look empty, I wish you hope.
And may the gifts of the Holy Spirit help you to have all of these throughout your whole life. Thank you so much for the lovely flowers. I wore them with so much pride. And I was so proud of you. Sincerely yours, Mrs. Marshall.
In July of that year, my father received a phone call. “Mrs. Marshall died on Sunday,” he told me when I arrived home from a friend’s house. “She had a severe asthma attack, followed by a stroke. Her son called to tell you because she had your letter in her hands when she passed away. You were her favorite and that letter was special to her.”
She was only 56 years old and left behind a husband, three kids and a grandson.
Which leads me back to that quote above. “It only takes a second to make someone feel special, but that second may last a lifetime in their mind.”
I never forgot Mrs. Marshall, but I had forgotten the note she wrote to me. I found it a year ago, when it fell out from the back pages of my bible. I passed the words on to a friend who was going through a difficult time in life. There’s a powerful lesson here– taking just a moment to tell someone that they are special can last a lifetime in their mind. Thanks to Mrs. Marshall, that ripple goes on.
Comments
13 responses to “The “Second” That Lasts a Lifetime”
Very touching ~ you never know what you say or do will touch someone else’s life. I recently found an old high school friend on Face Book and shortly after, he wrote a short note telling me “Thank you for your kind words to me. I was rather shy and a new transplant to the school.” That was all I needed to make my day. Heck, it has made my year! I try to pass it forward and tell others how they have touched me in my life.
Such a powerful message. It’s great that you got to be that important to someone. I’m inspired!
Wow, Karen! Beautiful. It gave me chills. And, it’s so very true. I am ashamed to think of all the times I could have taken that one second to say something encouraging to someone and, for whatever reason, I didn’t. Thanks for reminding me to “just do it!”! May your sweet Mrs. Marshall rest in peace.
What a beautiful story! Thank you for sharing, Karen.
That’s beautiful, Karen. A great thought to carry on into the new year.
Thank you all for your wonderful comments!
Karen, I am truly honored that that Ripple Thought Of The Day meant so much to you. And what an amazing story! Thank you so much for sharing it my friend.
Ripple On!!!
Steve
This is one of the wisest posts I’ve seen in a community that we both know to be very full of wise women. I am so grateful to you for sharing it with us. She must have been an amazing teacher – and person – and you clearly were worthy of her.
“I never forgot Mrs. Marshall, but I had forgotten the note she wrote to me. I found it a year ago, when it fell out from the back pages of my bible. I passed the words on to a friend who was going through a difficult time in life.”
Jude Steven, Editor of Koi Guide
Steve,
Thanks for being the ripple that lead to this post. 🙂
Cynthia, thanks for your kind words. 🙂
This is so beautiful, Karen! I’m sitting here with tears in my eyes for a second time today – because of you! 😉
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