A Heartfelt Thank You

Good Morning! Heather here on Free For All Friday, TGIF!

As shared by Claudia and Katie, it is so good to be back and able to share with you the creative moments that life brings each day.

Yesterday served to remind me just how important it is to say "thank you" to the people in your life who make a difference. Not just because it makes you feel good to say thank you but because you never know how special you may make someone feel by doing something relatively easy.

I was lucky enough to be on the receiving end of a thank you yesterday evening that made a

major impact on me and I'd like to share it with you.

As most of you know I am new to Texas. Bal, Lily and I relocated from Kentucky last July when I accepted a job working at UT-Arlington. As exciting as it always is to take a new job and move somewhere new a part of you is always sad about the unfinished business you leave behind at your last job. For those of us in higher education that typically means the students who haven't yet graduated. For me I had to leave one particular student who I worked with very closely from the time she was a freshman...Cassie P.

While Cassie and I have stayed in touch this year through facebook, phone calls and of course highlowaha we knew the minute I no longer had an office on campus it would be harder to really "be there" for Cassie.

Last night I got home from a long day in the office to get the mail out of my mailbox. I reached in to find several junk mail items and one envelope from Bellarmine University. Intrigued as to what it might be I opened it to find one of the most special thank you gifts I have ever received. It turns out that Bellarmine is engaging the Class of 2009 in their Senior Gift Campaign and they asked seniors to donate to the campaign and let them know that they could give their gift in honor of someone who made a difference in their time at Bellarmine and Cassie had chosen to make a gift in honor of me. Now I don't know if Cassie realizes the impact that her kind act had on me (she will when she reads this) but this simple act of honoring me in this way provided a reaffirmation to me that I'm in the right line of work, I do make a difference, and Cassie values our relationship. All that from a form letter mailed by the Bellarmine University Development Office.

So here's my challenge to you today on Free For All Friday. With Administrative Assistant's Day coming up on the horizon (April 22nd to be exact), let's work together as a highlowaha community to think of meaningful, heartfelt ways to say "thank you" to the people who make our jobs or lives that so much easier. Let's be honest in saying that even if you don't personally have an administrative assistant that you work with everyone's life is impacted by an administrative assistant either positively or negatively so taking time to thank the ones who make a positive impact is important and may just let them know that THEY are in the right line of work, do make a difference, and that YOU value their relationship.

So let's have it highlowaha...give me your best, most creative, most heartfelt ways to tell an Administrative Assistant in your life (either the one you work with or the one you talk to at your doctor's office, kid's school, etc...) thank you.

Signing off Until Tomorrow...