Say What???

Have you ever noticed that people can say something to you…even something that’s perhaps innocuous on the surface, but deep down, it hurts…and lingers? I know I have. 

I have also experienced the opposite…words that were shared, not intended to flatter or build up…but they left a positive, indelible memory that I occasionally find beneficial to recall. 

I grew up in the same area of town on the outskirts of a large city, living and going to the schools in the same district.  From second grade through high school, there were a few of us who had known each other that whole time. However, time often brings people in and out of our lives, and friends come and go during those school years. 

Laura was one of those friends. We shared several of the same classes from second grade through seventh grade. However, in eighth grade and continuing through high school, I took a different path. I began spending time with new people and slowly drifting away from Laura, as well as many of my childhood friends. Looking back, high school was full of choices - some good, some bad...but that’s a whole different story!

Upon completing high school and following graduation, more people came and went. Of course this often happens as people scatter in different directions following their various pursuits and dreams. Laura was no exception, moving back to the state she was originally from. 

I didn’t see of, hear from or about her for a long time…we simply - naturally - lost touch. 

It wasn’t until our ten year high school reunion that I saw Laura again.  

As is common at reunions, there is the usual set of "pleasantries" and questions that are exchanged: "Oh my goodness! How are you?" "Did you marry ____ from high school?" "What do you do for a living?" and so on.  Understandable questions to help us quickly catch up with each other as we move from person to person.  

But something interesting happened when I spoke with Laura. 

At that time, I had been working at a company for several years and held a somewhat “impressive-sounding” title. After I shared a bit with Laura and learned about what she’d been doing, she said something to me that has resonated for the many years that have since passed: “We always knew you’d turn out to be somebody”.  

To be clear, I wasn’t anything or anybody particularly “special”...which honestly, made her remark all the more endearing. It was - I believe - perhaps the most kind, unsolicited compliment anyone has ever said to me.  And even though I didn’t feel it was anymore true for me than someone else, the words she said that night were heartfelt, authentic, and so generous in their kindness…that to this day, I still treasure them and recall them when I’m feeling down.

I have never shared with Laura how her words that night so many years ago have brought me comfort and reassurance when I needed it (accompanied by the occasional smile), nor have I told many others about it. But it exemplifies the power of our words - to hurt or to help - and underscores the Forgewear slogan which we derived from the fourth chapter of Ephesians.

You never know how the words you speak may echo throughout the life of another, so we'd like to encourage you to “Say something…worthwhile”.

“Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.”

Ephesians 4:29 (NLT)