“Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with deeper meaning.”

— Maya Angelou

A word on paper is only as meaningful as the reader lets it be.

For a written word to have meaning, a reader must feel differently, think differently, or act differently.

That means it only takes one reader to read these words and give them meaning.

I’ve written a lot about giving time in the past 400 days, but none of them have any meaning unless someone, somewhere reads the words and makes a difference.

Just like the words on paper I wrote today to a soldier, a student, and a grieving family. If my words don’t help them in some small way then there wasn’t any meaning.

Yet, I probably won’t ever know if the words in those letters have any meaning. Should I then stop just because no one is telling me that my words have an impact?

No. Because even if yesterday’s words are forgotten, tomorrow’s words might change a life.

You give meaning to the words I write here tonight. It’s up to you to make a difference.

Wrote a letter to my “adopted” soldier … Mailed a postcard to a friend … Sent a condolences card, and a contribution to the scholarship fund, to the family of my former principal whom I greatly admired.