"Mr. O" The Gratitude Project

There are some professions that have more opportunity to reach and help a lot of people and education is one of those professions.  As a high school guidance counselor for 25+ years, anybody who knows Mr. O, knows he has helped A LOT of people!

I was in the graduating class of 1990 from Mascenic High School in New Ipswich, NH.  He started at our school while I was in my junior year and his presence was obvious.  He had a way of treating everyone with respect and he genuinely cared - you could just tell.  There were many great programs, field trips and initiatives that were started in those two years and they were all implemented with enthusiasm and an upbeat energy that was motivating and inspiring.  He didn’t talk about the obstacles that might be in the way or the reasons it couldn’t be done - he just had an energy that said, “Yes, we can do this, it’ll be great!”  And it was.

I can think of many examples over those two years where he went above and beyond and a handful where he went WAY above and beyond.  Whenever I’m talking with old friends from school and Mr. O’s name comes up - it’s clear we all feel the same way.  It’s in the tone - the name “Mr. O” would conjure up the same warm and happy feeling for so many of us.  With the advent of social media, I could see so many more of his students over the years connecting with him on Facebook and through their comments I could hear and recognize that same tone - “Mr. O.”

I started to wonder, how many of us are there?  How many students had he worked with and helped throughout the years?  If I had countless stories in just two years, how many more stories were there?  I’ve thought about this many times for 10+ years before I finally worked up the courage to ask Mr. O his permission to reach out to all of you and ask to hear your stories.

After all these years, when we finally got to talk by zoom recently - all of the same energy, kindness and enthusiasm were immediately there.  Mr. O was exactly the same Mr. O.  When we got down to talking about the project, his response was “You’re killing me Roni…. I’m embarrassed but how can I say no.”  I couldn't believe it, I had told my close friend just two weeks prior - "I don't think he'll say no, I can actually hear him saying 'You're killing me Roni.'"  It's my new favorite quote :)

So here we are.  I'd truly love to hear and share your stories about Mr. O!  No story is too big or small - whether he offered you some kind words on a really tough day, supported you in a way that helped change the direction of your life or gave you a hall pass when nobody else would on the day you really, really, really had to pee :).  

Whether you have some kind words or a story, you can post them directly on https://www.facebook.com/sparkofgratitude.  Or if you have a longer story you'd like to submit or tell me about and I can write it up for you just reach out to me via messenger or at roni@naturalwellnesspath.com.  Any way that works best for you is great.  And I'd love to see any pics you might have of you and Mr. O too!