What most inspires my gratitude?

My very first function was a Halloween party in the lower Rhine area. That’s a really bad part of town in Cincinnati. So being a Halloween party I got dressed up. It was not required. I got dressed up as a witch. I didn’t know the neighborhood well and ended up lost. I pull up to this house and I couldn’t help thinking I’m going to be killed watch and see. With much trepidation, I asked for directions from this little girl.

She looked at me and asked, “Are you a Jaycee?”

Of course, I replied, “Yes,do you know where this is?”

Her face literally lit up and she said,“Yes, you go down this road. Turn right at the end. Turn left and right into the school parking lot." I followed her directions with no problem at all. She probably saved my life.

I wasn’t to know that I would later see this same little girl at the party. She came in dressed as a jelly bean bag. She was so cute and her mother was fortunate enough to come. Anyway during the party, I did my scary voice and told a wicked horror story to the kids. I literally had them spellbound. They were so rapt on my words. One of the other Jaycees tried to put input into the story. I tried to tell him but he just kept going. It didn’t work. He wasn’t aware that I wasn’t reading from a book. I started to read from the book originally. But I could see the children must have heard it before so I changed it and made it into my own story. I continued after he made a comment that there was no way he could take over. Two of my gifts from God are my writings and my voice. Its not that my voice is beautiful. It's that I can change it sometimes to reflect different things such as a wicked witch, Australian accent, English nanny, Scottish and even a frog on occasion. I have always been able to change voices in the middle of a story and it does me well when I am telling stories to the kids now.

So any way while I was at the party, the mother of that little girl came up to me. It still makes me get teary eyed when I think of that conversation. I hadn’t realized her daughter had won the costume contest or that there even was one. This mother tells me how very excited and blessed she feels that she was able to attend the party because she had to take off from one of her three jobs that she works to support her kids. That happiness and love that this woman showed to her child instilled in me that I wanted to continue to do the good work so to speak.

This is the memory that today I still give thanks for. It taught me to appreciate all that I have.