My friend, Pete, called me Sunday morning. His daughter, Devon, had just left 15 minutes before to go to college for her freshman year.
She is a smart, funny, attractive young woman who is attending school on a full academic scholarship.
Pete didn’t expect to miss Devon. She has so much to look forward to and that is his focus. In that moment Pete was feeling a little lonely and I was honored that he put in a call to me to ask me if I’d like to go get a beer that afternoon. I couldn’t go and Pete and I had a great conversation on the phone.
A couple of days later, while I was working, I thought of Devon and I thought of all the times that Pete has talked in glowing terms about her. I am sure that he tells her the same things in person but I also know that when someone reaches out to someone else and says, “So and so always says positive things about you” it can have a deep impact. When you tell them their parents are saying positive things about them when they are not around it can have an even deeper impact.
So I took the liberty of looking Devon up on Facebook and I sent her this note.
Devon,
About 15 minutes after you left on Sunday your dad called me. He said, "I thought I was going to be fine but now that she is gone I really miss her"
I can't tell you the number of times that your dad and I have talked about you. He is so proud of you and he knows that you are going to accomplish everything that you put your mind to in life.
Enjoy the future. It is really bright. When your dad gets weepy I'll take him for a few beers so he can talk about how proud he is of you!
Yours truly,
Devon Fan Cameron
Devon responded with a great note back to me.
When I hear an honest, sincere compliment about someone I like to make sure that they know it. We all like to hear good things about ourselves and it helps to create better self-esteem and makes us stronger.
