Thank You Card (2010)

I’ve written it many times, but I really can’t write it enough: The only thing that really matters in life is the people you have in yours. No amount of money, possessions, or Bruins Stanley Cup Championships can make up for the great people I am lucky to have in my life. These people have helped me through medical, personal, and professional problems. They made sure I had enough shirts for my t-shirt blog last year. They are the reason I don’t let “little things” upset me.

Some people in my life have been a lot less fortunate than me. I have worked with many special ed students that had severe behavioral and emotional issues, and usually had a less than ideal family situation. In the fall of 2009, I started working at a special education school during the day while still working at Hope Lodge during the night. The double shifts wore me down physically and mentally, and the stress made my Crohn’s shift into overdrive. After three months, my body told me that I couldn’t keep it up. It was a difficult decision, but I had to stop working at the special ed school.

Still, I wanted to make sure the students knew it wasn’t because of them that I made my decision. So, I started volunteering my time at the school. I continued an after school writing group, and also started playing guitar with a couple of students each week. Not surprisingly, the students greeted me about 1,000 times friendlier compared to when I was working there full time. They were well behaved, had fun, and were productive in both of the after school groups. It was actually more rewarding than the work I got paid to do at the school.

This is the thank you note I got from the education coordinator for the school…

Earlier tonight, we had the first committee meeting for my Skating for Hope event. Most of the group was my family, including my younger sister on Skype. I can’t thank them, the other committee attendees, and people that are going to help but couldn’t make it tonight enough. Like my t-shirt blog, I will not be able to pull of Skating for Hope by myself and I am thankful to have so many great supporters in my life. Looking forward to the next meeting!