A teacher in New York decided to honor each of her
seniors in High School by telling them the difference
each of them had made. She called each student to
the front of the class, one at a time.

First, she told each of them how they had made a
difference to her, and the class. Then she presented
each of them with a blue ribbon, imprinted with gold
letters, which read, "Who I Am Makes a Difference."

Afterwards, the teacher decided to do a class
project, to see what kind of impact recognition
would have on a Community. She gave each of
the students three more blue ribbons, and instructed
them to go out and spread this acknowledgment ceremony.
Then they were to follow up on the results, see who
honored whom, and report to the class in about a week.

One of the boys in the class went to a junior executive
in a nearby Company, and honored him for helping him with his
career planning. He gave him a blue ribbon, and put it
on his shirt. Then he gave him two extra ribbons and said,
"We're doing a class project on recognition,
and we'd like for you to go out,
find somebody to honor, give them a blue ribbon,
then give them the extra blue ribbon so they can
acknowledge a third person, to keep this
acknowledgment ceremony going.
Then please report back to me and tell me what happened."

Later that day, the junior executive went in to
see his boss, who had been noted, by the way,
as being kind of a grouchy fellow. He sat his
boss down, and he told him that he deeply admired
him for being a creative genius. The boss seemed very
surprised. The junior executive asked him if he would
accept the gift of the blue ribbon, and would he give
him permission to put it on him. His surprised
boss said, "Well, sure." The junior executive took the
blue ribbon and placed it right on his boss's jacket,
above his heart. As he gave him the last extra ribbon,
he said, "Would you take this extra ribbon, and pass it
on by honoring somebody else. The young boy who first
gave me the ribbons is doing a project in school, and we
want to keep this recognition ceremony going and find out
how it affects people."

That night, the boss came home to his 14-year-old
son, and sat him down. He said, "The most
incredible thing happened to me today. I was
in my office, and one of the junior executives came
in and told me he admired me, and gave me a blue
ribbon for being a creative genius. Imagine! He thinks I
am a creative genius! Then he put a blue ribbon
that says, "Who I Am Makes a Difference", on my
jacket above my heart. He gave me an extra ribbon and
asked me to find somebody else to honor. As I was
driving home tonight, I started thinking about whom
I would honor with this ribbon, and I thought about
you. I want to honor you. My days are hectic and
when I come home, I do not pay a lot of attention to
you. Sometimes I scream at you for not getting good
enough grades in school, and for your bedroom being
a mess. Somehow, tonight, I just wanted to sit here
and, well, just let you know that you do make a
difference to me. Besides your mother, you are the
most important person in my life. You're a great
kid, and I love you!"

The startled boy started to sob and sob, and he
could not stop crying His whole body shook. He
looked up at his father and said through his tears,
"Dad, earlier tonight I sat in my room and wrote a
letter to you and Mom, explaining why I was about to take my
life, and I asked you to forgive me. I was going to
commit suicide tonight after you were asleep.
I just did not think that you cared at all. The
letter is upstairs. I don't think I need it after all."
His father walked upstairs and found a heartfelt
letter full of anguish and pain.

The boss went back to work a changed man. He
was no longer a grouch, but made sure to let all
of his employees know that they made a difference.
The junior executive helped several other young
people with career planning, and never forgot to
let them know that they made a difference in his
life...one being the boss' son. In addition, the young
boy and his classmates learned a valuable lesson,
"Who you are DOES make a difference".

You are under no obligation to pass this on to
anyone.... not to two people, or to two hundred. As
far as I am concerned, you can forget it and move
on. On the other hand, if you want, you could
send it to all of the people who mean something to
you, or send it to the one, two, or three people
who mean the most.

On the other hand, just smile and know that I
think that you are important, or you would not
have received this in the first place. Who you are
does make a difference, and I wanted you to know that.

Isn't this a wonderful story?
I'm passing the blue ribbon to you,
for who YOU are does make a difference, too.

Have an awesome day,
and know
that someone has thought about you today!