Reach Out and Touch Someone

It was a wonderful start to my day.  "Wonderful" doesn't begin to cover it.  It was reassuring, it was loving, it was affirming, it was warm; it was so many good things.  It was an email.

I'd awakened a little bit before the alarm was to go off, and while the tea water was heating, I went to my email.  There was one with the intriguing subject line "I've been meaning to write this for a long time," and the sender's address was vaguely familiar.

It turned out to be from a blogger I've followed for several years now.  We'd had some communication on a couple of things a long time ago.  And then I stopped hearing from her; she'd assured me that nothing was wrong, but I doubted.  Felt unsettled about it for a little while.  And around the same time I noticed that I no longer had her email, she deleted it from her profile. 

I continued to follow her blog and leave comments; she did the same for me.  But I missed her.  I missed that occasional personal contact.  And continued to have that niggling feeling that somehow I'd hurt or offended her. She's bright, she's articulate, she's funny.  She's a woman of faith, a quilter, and so much more.  She's the kind of person I wish would join my women's Circle at church.  Except she lives Far From Philadelphia.  I missed her.

And then, out of the blue, this email came, that said, in part, "For some reason right now . . . I feel a need to drop you a note and tell you that you are special to me."  She went on to list the ways, the reasons that supported this statement, and ended with "my life would be less rich without you."

I do not have the words to tell you how that made me feel.  But I believe you can imagine.  When was the last time someone said that to me?  To you?  When was the last time I said anything like that to anyone?  When did you?

And so I vow to change that.  Like Kim's more tangible "Share the Love" campaign, I propose a "Reach Out and Touch Someone" movement.  I was so moved by this email that I went to the internet and learned a new skill -- I've developed a button to remind me to take the time to send an email every now and then to someone to tell her that "you are special to me," to let him know that "my life would be less rich without you."

Wanna join me?  Grab the button.  And send that email.

Thank you, friend.  Just look what you've started!