Sending Grateful Reminders To Those You Love
My mom forwarded this great story to me yesterday and I thought it was so beautiful and inspiring, that I just had to pass it on. Enjoy!
The List
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 Vietnam 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. 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, it's in my diary," Marilyn said. 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."
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. Tell them, before it is too late. Remember that you reap what you sow. What you put into the lives of others comes back into your own.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009 at 11:38AM
Reader Comments (7)
Hey jinxi,
thank you posting these things. I have has a ton of changes in life lately. Some heartbreaking and some amazing. And I have come to realize that without those around me who love and care for me I would hve fallen apart.
In the past I have Been pretty reserved about my emotions and expressing them. Always assuming that my friends and family knew how I felt about them. But now I make it a point to let them know how much they mean to me and that I am honored to have them
in my life.
So I guess the point of this is, I'm happy to know you always stay true to who you are cause that person is amazing.
Jinxi,
Thanks for sharing this. It is a great story and so true. With that I want to tell you that you bring such happiness to my life and have taught me so much about myself. Thanks for being such an amazing inspiration to me and others. I love you.
Steve
Jinxi, your posts are always so deep and "educational" if I might say so...thank you for sharing with us and thank you for making us think of life everyday...Ciao, Marianna
Love you with all my heart!
Love you with all my heart! You are an amazing, beautiful daughter!
It's so cool to see how you effect so many lives with your blog (and your mind)....my mom now visits your page daily to get inspiration (and to learn) from you. And she is one hard headed woman! So, thank you for everything you do! You rock!
LOVE this! And, I love you and your wonderful mom.