Little things, mean a lot

A cute little story I don't want to forget.

On Thursday I sat down in Humanities like any other day. There is a cute little 74 year old man, with a soft, raspy voice who sits in front of me, he and his wife bring their trailer up here during the school year so that he can finish his bachelors degree. I take notes for him, because he can't read his own handwriting. He turned around to talk to me for a minute, I apologized I hadn't sent him my notes yet, thinking that's what he was going to ask about. But he just smiled and told me about his daughter, and how much he loves her, and that she makes pizza every other Friday night, and he would really like us to come over for dinner the next night. Of course, my first thought was, I don't know if that would be awkward, or if he had asked his daughter if we could come, but I just said "Oh, we'd love to, let me double check our schedule and see what we have going tomorrow and I'll let ya know for sure." Kind of with the intention that we would not go, but I still wanted to be nice and not hurt his feelings. But the more and more I thought about it, the more I realized how much he wanted us to come, how much it would mean to him if we would come, and I really began to feel like we needed to go. So Friday night, we get in the car to head up to his daughters house, we get out of the car, feeling a little awkward, and walk up to the house. We knock on the door, and his young granddaughter's answer, we asked for John, and he promptly came around the corner, with a HUGE grin on his face, so excited to see us, and introduce us to his family. I don't think I will ever forget the look on his face, it truly did make his day. We spent the next hour, meeting his family and wife, and eating, possibly, the best homemade pizza ever. At one point, his daughter pulled me aside and thanked me for helpping her dad at school, and that she really worries about him at school, and that people aren't nice to him, and that he was so excited for us to come. She told us we were welcome to come over for pizza night anytime, because she didn't know how else she could re-pay us. It really hit me then, that these little things can really bless not only those we serve, but the people they love too. To me taking 15 minutes to type up my notes and e-mail them to him is not a problem at all, and actually really benefits me hugely, because it gives me a good excuse to review my notes before a test comes up. I am constantly amazed that as we serve those around us, our needs are met. This is such a great lesson to me, and a good reminder that those little acts of service can make a huge impact, even if we do not think we are benefiting anyone. I can definitely be better at doing this, but it really was such an eye openning experience to me, that you REALLY can make a difference.