Yesterday I attended a funeral for someone that honestly I don't know very well. I sat with some very close friends of mine in the sanctuary which was quite full of people. My impression of the man who had suddenly died of a heart attack at the age of 45 was that of a quiet man who loved his family and liked to fly under the radar as far as attention goes. The thing is that that impression did not define who this man truly was at all. In fact he had so much of an impact on the people around him that over 100 people from Home Depot, where he worked, showed up for his funeral. They wore orange bows in his memory and cried along with the family as his life story was told.
One of his fellow workers got up and told us how full of life he was, how he started out everyday at work by checking on people and seeing if people needed anything. Even though he worked in the garden center, that didn't stop him from moving stuff with the forklift, helping customers in other departments, or cutting wood when needed. It was well known how much he loved his job and how much he loved helping people. All you had to do was ask and without the slightest hesitation he would lend a helping hand. His fellow worker also told us how much he would talk about his family and how much he loved them. He was always talking about his family.
It turns out that I didn't really know this man who had such a great and amazing impact on so many people and it makes me wonder if he realized how much of impact he was having on people.
Do any of us really realize the impact we have on people?
Do we really know who's lives we have affected?
I really don't know how much of an impact I have on people. I hope that I have a good impact on people especially our youth.
The man I knew was quiet and reserved but very nice and polite. I didn't know how much he loved his job, his family, and God. I got to witness firsthand the impact that he had on people. It was pretty amazing and made me realize that it was a blessing for me to know him even if it was for a very short time in a very small capacity.
Let's just say that he can add one more person to the list of people that he has impacted.
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