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Meanderings from Jean's Desk....
Blog Archive 
May 1, 2013: Seeing Those Around Us
May 1, 2013: Scarcity or Abundance: Choose
April 15, 2013: Being Where You Are!
April 1, 2013: Leadership Is Being Vulnerable
March 15, 2013: Leadership and Shedding Skin
Feb 17, 2013: Leadership Isn't Always Romantic
Dec 15, 2012: The Space Between The Notes
Nov 1, 2012: The Ostrich Effect
Oct 15, 2012: Who Are You Being When You Are Doing Your Life?
Oct 1, 2012: Constructive Interaction
Video
2009 Kenosha Business of the Year:
LMI Packaging Solutions, Inc.
Seeing Those Around Us
I know I write about my mother quite often, but something happened this Mother's Day that was so special I had to share it.
I received an e-mail from a woman who had known my mom many years ago. We'll call her Betty. She said that she saw my mom every week and "I felt so much peace and love in her home I didn't want to leave." Betty said her son had some medical issues and my mom would listen to her untiringly and supported her through those challenges.
She said she remembered a time when my mom mentioned that when the Guy Upstairs called her home, she would be ready to go and see my dad once more. Betty said, "I had to ask if she could do me a favor and ask Him to heal my son." My mom told her she would if she could and Betty guessed it had been possible because her son was now 90% better. "I loved her very much and her faith marveled me in a way that impacted my life today." she wrote, "I thank God for placing her in my life. She is the one woman who impacted my life the "most" in so many ways."
As you might imagine all of this brought back many memories and feelings for me. I remember my mom talking about Betty. Like many things my mom talked about I dismissed it. I had a busy life back then and I didn't always SEE my mom as clearly as I wish I had. As a matter of fact, I didn't think my mom would even understand what I was going through, though clearly she could have, had I opened up to her as Betty had. Thankfully, I was blessed to do some work on myself well before she died that helped me see that it was because I did not share myself with her that she did not SEE me. I was reminded again of what I had thankfully learned before she left; it had been me who did not SEE her clearly.
Yesterday a friend shared an essay a business associate wrote to him and his colleagues ten days before he died of cancer. In it he wrote, "I must ask myself what I have learned in sixty years. What do I really know? I know that the smartest of us are fumbling our way along, making mistakes. In my earlier years I was awed by the professionals, the experts, the consultants. I must admit that I felt a superiority to those less well educated, or less commercially successful then I. In time I changed my view. Those that awed me, I found, were just as human and fallible as I. And, given a chance to be heard, the Simple and Humble will surprise you with their wisdom."
My prayer for all of us is that we SEE those around us clearly, at work, and at home today.
