Thank You @ MindSay

Boy oh boy. Life is so good right now.

 

Let me tell you what happened to me today at work.

 

First off, the library system has had this reading program for adults that runs 8 weeks, through January and February. In my branch, I was the point person for this project, handling promotion, displays and coordinating the drawings for prizes. I spent a ton of time deciding how I wanted to promote the program in our building. I came up with what I thought was a super clever idea that integrated the name of the program with different themes that presented a unique set of books to focus on each week.

 

My boss actually had one of my coworkers take pictures of some of my displays and they are posted on our Flickr page. (Mine are all of the pictures that don't have book shelves in them--you see some of the graphics I created, that I am pretty proud of!!)

 

So the program is officially ended now, and I am done with that project. Well, today at work, one of the women who regularly frequents my library, and was one of the winners during the program, came in to deliver to me a hand written thank you card! She wanted to let me know that she loves the program and that she appreciated the prize that she won. It was so wonderful to get feedback about the program. She really seemed to enjoy it. She also made a suggestion about using the information on the entry forms to create a new display, which was something my boss and I were considering doing. Now I will be doing it for sure.

 

Okay, so that's pretty cool, right?

 

Then, same day, I get an email from the head librarian of one of our largest branches. A couple months back, she sent out an email asking for stories about people using the library to search for jobs. I happened to have had a great one, so I emailed it to her. I got a nice thank you back from her. I have no idea how many stories she received (as she sent the email out system wide) but today she sent me an email letting me know that she had to appear before the county Board of Commissioners. She gave a presentation on how libraries are enhancing services to support the community in this time of economic hardship. It was a really nice speech that she gave (they sent a video of it, so I have seen it) and at the end of her speech, she was citing examples of how libraries help people and she quoted me! She basically read my story to the Board, verbatim, as an example of how libraries and librarians help people find better resources to search for jobs. It was so cool.

 

But to top it off-- in her email she also mentioned that the woman who writes the county newsletter was also there. That woman wants to quote my story as well, in the newsletter. I gave the go ahead, and now I am going to be in print for this same story.

 

All of that good news and pat-yourself-on-the-back moments came on the same day. It was so awesome to know that what I am doing does make an impact on others, whether we see it or not, but it sure is fun when we get to see it.

 

Yay for me!

 

11 days.

Dear Mr. Bush,

 

I wanted to tell you more than anything, Thank you. I realize there have been many controversial decisions made during your time in office, tougher than some Presidents wildest dreams. I have often found myself in diagreeance with you. That is okay, it is not a deal breaker. I mean, afterall, I don't even agree with  my husband all the time.

 

I wanted to tell you how much your faith touched my life. I was given hope each time you confessed that your faith helped you to make difficult decisions. I have often said myself that what is right is not always popular, especially in the days we are living in. So, thank you for your strong, unwavering faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

I wanted to tell you not to worry about whether you did the right thing or not. I know that may be impossible. You know that you did the best you could with what information and choices you had. Everyone makes mistakes, and in retrospect the mistakes seem bigger and larger than life. So, please just remember how you lifted our country up in one of the most difficult times in history.

 

Thank you Mister President for your humor in the face of adversity and hate. Thank you for your love for your family and this country. I have said, and intend on sticking to it, no matter who the President is or was, I will stand by their decisions because I don't know what you know, and have not experienced what you have.

 

So, Mister President, as you leave the office, I wanted to say Thank you! I also want to ask you to continue to pray for our country, our new President, and our new leaders. Please Mr President, do not waiver in your faith, and please do not doubt the decisions you had to make and the liberty they have brought other countries and other parts of the world.

 

Sincerely,

Jeana Marie

 

ps...I am praying for you, Mr. Obama. I wish you nothing but the best of luck and ease of decision making in the time you are in the office of the President of The United States of America!!

 

God Bless America!!

I'm not sure how long I'm going to do this, but its worth a shot.

What's worth a shot?  The second half of that sentence doesn't really have anything to do with the first half.  Uggg.  That barely sense-making sentence was written 5 years ago today as part of my first blog entry ever on any site.  At the time I wouldn't have believed you if you'd told me that I'd still have this blog 5 years later and, with the exception of the last year, would have been updating it very consistently.  That sentence was meant as a way to cover my ass when I inevitably stopped after a week or two, much like everything else I had recently tried on the internet in the weeks leading up to that first post.

I never expected to write 1378 entries.  I never expected my friends to embrace my words this much.  I never expected complete strangers from around the world to become more important to me than many of the people I interact with in my daily life.  I never expected to meet one of my closest friends here.  I never expected to send gifts to and receive gifts from several of you.  I never expected to host a Mindsay-based radio show for over 3 years.  I never expected this blog to be such an important part of the 5 most important years of my life.

It's been no secret that I haven't been around here much the last year.  This is the inevitable transition after the last 5 years.  I used to require this blog to convey my thoughts.  I wasn't so good at sharing important feelings, even to my closest friends.  I don't really have that problem any more.  I'm more confident with myself and more open with those I love and trust.  A lot of things have happened over the last 5 years to get me to this point and this blog was no small part of it.

I don't really need to post entries here any more.  I can go right to my friends and talk about the important things now.  I no longer need to use this blog as a place to write, because I'm no longer afraid that no one will read my words unless they're here.  I write other places now and have even been paid to write other places.  So with that all in mind, this is likely my last entry here at Mindsay.  I'll still frequent the site and read your posts.  I may even comment, but I have no plans to write anything new here.  I may drop a link from time to time, but we'll see if that happens or not.  Probably not, as I have Twitter, Facebook, and other spots to publish things like that.

If you are one of my friends who have some way to contact me outside of Mindsay, someone who knows who AAP really is, and would like to see my Twitter, Facebook, etc, please use those other ways to contact me and I'll pass the links on to you.  If you do not have other means besides Mindsay to contact me, then please don't ask for those links in the comments.  My real name is associated with those other places and if you don't already know me, that's probably not going to change now.  For the most part, AllAroundPsycho is leaving Mindsay the same way he came in... anonymously.

It's been an amazing 5 years here.  I'm not exaggerating when I say that this blog, this community, has had a huge impact on me.  There were a lot of things over those 1827 days that contributed to me becoming the more confident man I am today, but the Mindsay community was certainly one of the more important (and surprising) ones.  I'm in debt to all of you that have read me, commented to me, or befriended me.

Thank you.

Well, something pretty amazing happened today.

 

A couple of weeks ago, this couple came in to the library and they were in a bit of a panic. They were here from Texas. The husband was a Vietnam vet who was ill. I didn't get the specifics, but he was here to recieve treatment at the local VA hospital. His wife accompanied him and she needed a place to stay.

 

They didn't want a shelter, they were looking for an apartment, one that was used for emergency housing. I had to do a ton of research to find what they were looking for, and within their limited budget. They had already exhausted the available housing from the hospital and used the assistance of a local church, so they were on their own. With no idea where to turn (they'd never been to MN before), they stopped into my library and asked for help.

 

I managed to find them affordable housing near the VA hospital, that is used for situations like this, through a local social services organization. I got them directions and an appointment and sent them on their way.

 

Today, they stopped in to the library. They were looking for me specifically. They wanted to let me know that the housing I found them worked out perfectly. His treatments are going well and suddenly everthing is going well for them both. They are a very sweet couple who's names I didn't even know until today. When we spoke, they thanked me for my assistance and my kindness toward them and told me they would pray for me.

 

Then, they gave me a handwritten thank you card with their names on it, that said "Thank you for strengthening the (name) family.  We appreciate the love and support you gave us."

 

It was so utterly unexpected and sincere. I was really touched. I do what I do and often times I help people, but it is my job. Yet, it meant so much to these two, that they made a point of stopping back to let me know how I helped them. And brought me a card, which is becoming an increasingly rare thing to do.

 

It is nice to get that affirmation that what I do really does make a difference.