Thanks
all for reading the McCarty Metro this month. We will be back
again in October for our Halloween edition.
Well summer is
just about over. Unfortunately, I didn't get any time off, but
hopefully Margaret and I can get away this fall for a vacation
before the next Polar Vortex sets in.
Speaking of
Margaret, I want to first of all congratulate her on her
retirement from the USPS after 31 years this past August,
and I also want to thank her for putting up with me for the
past 30 years. September 7 marks our 30th anniversary, and I
feel very fortunate in the life we have built together. Our
love and our family keeps growing every year.
My brother
Jerry came to town near the end of August to attend with me
our high school reunion (Class of 75-78) and joined Margaret
and myself at a McCarty family reunion hosted by Cousin
Tony. Both events were a lot of fun, as we visited with old
friends and relatives, and we even got a little Karaoke in
at McClenaghans Pub with brother Steve in between.
This past month, I had
some medical issues that cause me a bit of a scare. I realized that I
was bleeding internally, and I had to go to Henry Ford Hospital. I had a procedure called an Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (try that
in Words With Friends). Anyway, they sedated me and put a camera down my
throat into my esophagus, GE junction and stomach. What they discovered
was a hernia in my GE junction, and 2 ulcers in the stomach. They also
took 4 biopsies. The doctors are confident that the root cause of the
ulcers were from the meds I have been taking for my arthritis and MS.
They have stopped me from all those meds until this clears up. In the
meantime, I just have to stay on the new meds they prescribed to help
these issues. The biopsies came back confirming their diagnosis, and
this should
be all treatable.
My
final thought I leave is about self worth, and the importance to
let those you love know how you feel.
WHO I AM MAKES A
DIFFERENCE
A teacher in New York decided to honor
each of her seniors in high school by telling them the difference they
each made. She called each student to the front of the class, one at a
time. First she told each of them how they had made a difference to her
and the class. Then she presented each of them with a blue ribbon
imprinted with gold letters, which read, "Who I Am Makes a
Difference." Afterwards the teacher decided to do a class project
to see what kind of impact recognition would have on a community. She
gave each of the students three more ribbons and instructed them to go
out and spread this acknowledgment ceremony. Then they were to follow up
on the results, see who honored whom and report back to the class in
about a week.
One of the boys in the class went to a
junior executive in a nearby company and honored him for helping him
with his career planning. He gave him a blue ribbon and put it on his
shirt. Then he gave him two extra ribbons and said, "We're doing a
class project on recognition, and we'd like you to go out, find somebody
to honor, give them a blue ribbon, then give them the extra blue ribbon
so they can acknowledge a third person to keep this acknowledgment
ceremony going. Then please report back to me and tell me what
happened."
Later that day the junior executive went
in to see his boss, who had been noted, by the way, as being kind of a
grouchy fellow. He sat his boss down and he told him that he deeply
admired him for being a creative genius. The boss seemed very surprised.
The junior executive asked him if he would accept the gift of the blue
ribbon and would he give him permission to put it on him. His surprised
boss said, "Well, sure." The junior executive took the blue
ribbon and placed it right on his boss's jacket above his heart. As he
gave him the last extra ribbon, he asked, "Would you do me a favor?
Would you take this extra ribbon and pass it on by honoring somebody
else? The young boy who first gave me the ribbons is doing a project in
school and we want to keep this recognition ceremony going and find out
how it affects people."
That night the boss came home to his
14-year-old son and sat him down. He said, "The most incredible
thing happened to me today. I was in my office and one of the junior
executives came in and told me he admired me and gave me a blue ribbon
for being a creative genius. Imagine. He thinks I'm a creative genius.
Then he put this blue ribbon that says "Who I Am Makes a
Difference," on my jacket above my heart. He gave me an extra
ribbon and asked me to find somebody else to honor. As I was driving
home tonight, I started thinking about whom I would honor with this
ribbon and I thought about you. I want to honor you. My days are really
hectic and when I come home I don't pay a lot of attention to you.
Sometimes I scream at you for not getting good enough grades in school
and for your bedroom being a mess, but somehow tonight, I just wanted to
sit here and, well, just let you know that you do make a difference to
me. Besides your mother, you are the most important person in my life.
You're a great kid and I love you!"
The startled boy started to sob and sob,
and he couldn't stop crying. His whole body shook. He looked up at his
father and said through his tears, "Dad, earlier tonight I sat in
my room and wrote a letter to you and Mom explaining why I had killed
myself and asking you to forgive me. I was going to commit suicide
tonight after you were asleep. I just didn't think that you cared at
all. The letter is upstairs. I don't think I need it after all."
His father walked upstairs and found a heartfelt letter full of anguish
and pain. The envelope was addressed, "Mom and Dad."
The boss went back to work a changed man.
He was no longer a grouch, but made sure to let all his employees know
that they made a difference. The junior executive helped several other
young people with career planning and never forgot to let them know that
they made a difference in his life... one being the boss's son.
And the young boy and his classmates
learned a valuable lesson.
Have a great start
to the school year, and always know that who you are DOES make a
difference.... Cheers!
