Sometimes in life, people do things that benefit you or have a very deep impact on you, even without their knowing. And sometimes, you miss out on chances to thank them, either because you just don't, or because you don't realize the impact at the time.

 

I was reading today and someone I ran into years ago popped into my mind. He was the husband of my Spanish tutor, Yuraima Perez. I went to his studio office downtown once a week to study with his wife. He was an urban planner and linguist. My second or third time there, Federico asked if I were a linguist. The idea seemed laughable at the time, since my formal academic studies of language had been good, but nothing stellar. The comment though, stuck with me and instilled in my head the idea that maybe I really could become fluent in multiple languages. Unfortunately, they moved back to Venezuela and I never got to let him know what his comment meant to me.

 

There's another one...a guy in college. I've been trying to find him for years to say thanks. UCF was under construction (Under Construction Forever...) and there were semis all over campus. On the way to class, I stepped out into the street, not seeing one that had reversed and was backing up toward me. I felt a pull on my bag and suddently I was back on the sidewalk. I turned around and muttered a quick thanks to Jared, a tall Israeli guy from one of my health admin classes. Because of some things I was going through at the time, I don't think I fully realized what had happened.

 

These incidents taught me not to underestimate the impact of small comments, positive or negative, and to thank people when you have the chance.