My Thanks-o-meter Favorites

Even the smallest gesture matters.

2008-04-16T19:11:00.000-07:00

This story made my favorites list for no reason other than I hope people will read it and recognize that the little things really do matter.

You held the door for me, remembering that I was there instead of hurrying ahead on your own. I appreciate it when you notice and you're thoughtful.

From bad to worse, then a ray of hope.

2008-04-16T19:10:00.000-07:00

This story really captured the extremes of emotions and events. What I like about it most is the fact that in the end, they focused on the positives.

My husband and I had spent the day in the hospital due to heart trouble. It took all day to get his heart rate stabilized. When we got to the car, someone had broken in and stolen his briefcase, containing his checkbook, atm card and ipod (with his entire music collection. He was devastated, we were both stressed about the missing checkbook and atm card (the police could not do anything without a description of the thief). All the while, I am trying to keep my husband's heart rate stable. We thought, "That's almost like graverobbing-robbing someone while they're sick and hospitalized. That's as low as you can get!"

After getting my husband and kids home, I went to get his new prescription. When I got home, I received a call from a woman who had found my husband's briefcase under her car in the parking structure. She gave me her address, and I went over to get it. She and her boyfriend had found the briefcase and several other backpacks in the hospital parking structure near their car. She took them home and called right away to let us know.

We were relieved and grateful; not just upon the return of most of what was lost (no iPod, but the checkbook and atm card were still there), but because our faith in our fellow man had been shattered, yet was restored by this act of kindness and caring thoughtfulness on the part of two strangers. Many thanks to the folks on Evergreen Avenue. I hope we can pay forward the kindness one day.

It's nice to feel appreciated

2008-04-16T19:08:00.000-07:00

This story was awarded "Story of the Year" for 2007. It was simple, yet captured the essence of what Thanks-o-meter.com was created to do. Recognize the nice things people do each day.

Every day I have afternoon duty and today was just like all the others until a parent came by and made me feel so special. It was the usual 107° out; sweat was rolling down my back and saturating my waistband. When out of nowhere an angel (who happened to be a parent) gave me an ice-cold lemonade Gatorade. He had brought it just for me. He did not say much, just handed it to me and said “for you” but I heard “I appreciate you.” “Thank you for being out here.” I told him “thank you” and hoped he knew how special he made me feel.

A wonderful story about a mentor

2008-04-16T19:07:00.000-07:00

This was one of the original posts to Thanks-o-meter. It came from the widow of Father Andy, my inspiration for the site. This post really made me feel that the project was well worth the time, effort and cost. I still enjoy reading it, and I hope you will too.

Yesterday at church we had a guest preacher. The bulletin said he is doing doctoral research in the brain-based nurture of character development and is an expert in moral development of children and youth with decades of experience working with young people. (Gosh, could I sit thru this?) The readings for the day were 2 Kings 2.1-15 and Ephesidans 4-1-7, 11-16 and the Gospel of Mark 6:45-52. It is usual in our church that the sermon expands/interprets the Gospel and I wondered how he was going to handle this. He did a Great job and had the entire congregation intently listening.

One of his main points was how important it is for children, and in fact for all of us, to have a mentor in our life. Yes, this did tie in with the lessons. This is a favorite premise of mine because I can name the mentors in my life and know they shaped my youth and what I was to become. I have mentored many young people and know I had a great influence on their life. I am in contact with many of them today. I served as a CASA advocate to form a trusting one-on-one relationship with a child and represented that child's interest in court.

I remember in particular a mentor who helped me thru some troubling times. Washington, D.C. where I grew up was a very Southern town in my day and as such was segregated. There were very fine schools for the white and not so good ones for the black. I was picked by the Pharos Honor Society to represent Washington in a youth congress. Other young people came to Washington from Philadelphia, Richmond, Baltimore and New York City. We planned a big conference. Since our meeting was in my home town I was to host it. No problem you think. Big problem! One of the delegates was black. Since this was about 1936 and believe me no black could eat in a restaurant there, attend a theater and could not attend a white church unless they sat in the balcony. ( I never saw one there. )

Now, here is how my mentor helped me. Was I prejudiced against the young man who came to Washington as an honor student ,who had competed and won the award? No, I wasn't. Arrangements were made for him to stay in a black hotel. We held our meetings in my school. The big problem was there was to be a celebratory dinner at the close of the conference and not a single public place in Washington where blacks and whites could sit down together could be found. I made the decision that we would not have the dinner if he couldn't attend. My wonderful mentor was my Sunday School teacher and she asked me if I could arrange a dinner in a private home. I did not give a thought to having it in my own home. Heavens Forbid. My family hadn't come that far yet. In fact it was a long time coming for some family members!

Well, not to worry, My mentor, and I can see her loving face before me now, said she would give the dinner in her own home. She set a beautiful table, crystal, china and silver and cooked a wonderful dinner. There were 12 of us gathered at her table. She and her husband served us. It was a first experience for us. We were truly color blind that night. All of us remembered that first encounter with a friend and knew that he was just like us. To this day I recall my wonderful Sunday School teacher and through her love our little group recognized God in our presence.

It's all about gratitude

2008-04-16T18:08:00.000-07:00

I started working on Thanks-o-meter.com in December of 2006 and it was officially launched in July of 2007. The site is quite simply a place to post a thank you and share a story when someones does something nice for you.

Anything from someone holding a door open for you to somebody saving your life - literally or figuratively. The magnitude doesn't matter so much as the recognition that they did something just for you.

As of this blog post, there are about 20 schools who have opened accounts on Thanks-o-meter.com to start gathering positive comments from their students, teachers, parents and others. I hope to expand into more schools, plus include religious organizations, sports leagues, and other volunteer-based organizations. Any organization, family or individual is welcome to open an account. The accounts are free.

My original purpose was to simply provide an alternative information source to what seemed like overwhelmingly negative news media coverage. Always a focus on the few bad apples. I wanted to give a voice to the positive news that was being generated from our schools. If the local media was going to focus on crime, I wanted to focus on the activities that warranted a "thank you", and to date I think I have accomplished that.

The stories posted to the site have been read over 10,000 times so far. That means for every story posted, each has been read an average of 74 times. So take a moment to reflect on your day, post a thank you and share a story. Also, forward your favorites to friends and family. You can forward any story, not just your own, so spend some time browsing www.thanks-o-meter.com to find some hope and inspiration. People do nice things every day. We're here to prove it!