15 Minutes Of Your Life… A Life Lasting Impression For A Kid!
Gosh! Where do I start? This is the kind of story that makes my eyes water, inspire me to keep making bracelets for the orphanage and obligates me to stop what I’m doing to write and try to get what’s in my heart out! But I’m not great with words, writing has NEVER been my forte but thank God for real writers and reporters such as Kevin Cullen of The Boston Globe that can craft such a lovely piece.
The story is about Sam Kanji a now 13-year old autistic boy who last year wanted to be a UPS delivery man for Halloween and is sure he’ll be a UPS delivery man when he grows up.
It all started by Sam wanting to be a UPS delivery guy so his mom went online and ordered a UPS hat for Sam. When the local UPS deliveryman, Tim Phillips, dropped off a package at Sam’s house, Sam’s mom shared her son’s wish with him. Phillips met Sam and was impressed by Sam’s intelligence!
So this is where it gets better; while Sam was at school Phillips asked Sam’s mom for his measurements and showed up the next day with a perfectly tailored UPS uniform for Sam!
Sam wore it for Halloween last year. Then he wore it on Thanksgiving. When his family went out to Michigan to visit his dad’s relatives for the holidays, he wore it on Christmas, for New Year’s Eve… He wears it for any special occasion. It’s gotten to the point that Sam doesn’t need Halloween as an excuse to put on his UPS uniform.
Are you getting the point? I really hope so! Such a small act by the local UPS delivery guy had a HUGE impact in that child’s life! In my book, Tim Phillips is a real superhero!
You don’t have to be a parent to bless a child. All I’m saying is that a small gesture that will probably take you no more than 15 minutes can have such a positive impact in a child’s life:
Pick up a coloring book and crayons for a child in your life
Pick a flower and take it to them (or a Hot Wheels car)
Bake cupcakes for his/her birthday
YOU draw a picture for them
Pick up a children’s book at your local library and tell them you picked it especially for them and read it to them
Tell them how handsome or pretty they look
Compliment them on something they said
Take a little girl to polish her nails
Take a little boy digging for dinosour bones
Help them with homework
The possibilities are endless! Anything that is unexpected to them will totally make them happy.
Let me repeat this…. You don’t have to be a parent to do these things; in fact, they might expect these things from their parents but if you do it, it will have a life lasting impression. Just do it because it will shape the next generations of kiddos! Who knows, maybe someday in the future they’ll visit you when you’re at the convalescent home and bake you some cupcakes.
“This is not the biggest story in the world. There are many more important things happening in any number of places. But one day a working guy whose job is all about time took the time to do something special for a kid, and a year later it still makes a now 13-year-old boy smile and believe that anything and everything is possible.
