A Ray of Sunshine....

Sometimes, when one is surfing the web, churning through bot-produced search engine results, a brilliant, gleaming, gem surfaces that simply brightens one's day. This was the case for me today when I stumbled across the blog entitled, "And We Shall March," which was written by a former student of mine who is also a former writer for the Los Angeles Times, Pam Noles.

Pam's blog, "And We Shall March" on May 5th, said some very nice things about a former teacher and coach of hers:

Wicked smart, one of maybe five people on the planet confirmed to be funnier than I, deeply compassionate and one of the people who are not blood relations most important in my evolution from a teen spaz to an adult, slightly more focused spaz, DOCTOR Murphy means much to my heart.

While who she was speaking of is not overly important, (I'm trying to avoid this becoming another post pitching the book), what is important is that people know how much these statements mean to the people who receive them. Whether it be a teacher, minister, parent, grandparent, coach, scoutmaster, or even a neighbor, when you take the time to sit down and write a letter or an email or a blog post and tell that mentor, or that special person, how important they were in your lfe, you will not only brighten their day, you may be giving their life meaning.

Many of us who enter into the professions mentioned above, do so at great personal cost. We often do not have families of our own. You become our families. Even if you aren't aware of that simple fact. Not all of you; that would be impossible. Only the ones who manage to build that special bond between teacher and student are the ones who we carry in our hearts and minds throughout our lives. I've taught, full-time, for nearly twenty years now, and I can count the "special ones" on both hands.

We keep quiet track of you. Not that we are stalkers who hang outside your windows and watch you have angry sex with that cheap, trashy individual you picked up after drinking too much that one Saturday night. Rather we watch the alumni magazines, the Internet, and other forms of non-threatening contacts to see how you are doing. We won't ever be a bother.

Then, if we are incredibly lucky, it will happen. On a day that has been dark for us due to poor health, professional disappointments, personal disappoinments, or just the angst of living past youth, it will arrive: a gift, a letter, an email, an unexpected phone call asking how we are doing.

These moments, when you remind us that we had a positive impact in your development, make sludging through all of the excrement just to turn on your intellectual "light-bulb" worth all of the hell. Even when the contact is from a student I don't remember (which happens often to someone with MS) it is uplifting. For a mentor who is in the psychological dregs of life, facing the "long, dark night of the soul," a contact from you may be the light that saves their life. Don't underestimate the impact that the one candle you may light might have on the darkness of the soul of one who feels unappreciated or unloved.

You don't have to declare undying love, devotion, or that you will fly a plane into a building or drink poison-laced kool-aid for them. Simply tell them, in writing that they mattered to you, if only for a minute. Why in writing? Because it shows them that the minute mattered enough to you for you to make your feelings permanent. You didn't just get drunk and spout off something you didn't mean.

Doing this will make you feel better too. I've done it. As a letter, it costs only, what .39 cents, this week? An email is free, for now. Sending a book or a gift certificate via Amazon is relatively cheap; but thoughtful.

How to do it? Simple. Find their address through Google or by calling their place of work. Then, in your letter do the following:

1. Remind them of who you are (don't assume).
2. Tell them how they influenced your life (the more specific the better).
3. Give them concrete examples of the times they helped you (literally tell them stories of the times that they helped you, they may not have realized that they were helping you at the time.)
4. Catch them up on your successes.
5. Thank them again.
6. If you want them to contact you, tell them how.

Make it happen. The results, even if you never see the recipient, will be amazing. The recipient will be walking on air for days. Your letter will be framed, included in annual performance reports, re-read repeatedly, and kept forever. The bang you'll get for your investment of time and money is priceless.

Just Do It....Now!