You are my star!

Have you ever thought about what the movie of your life would look like?  Who would play your role?  Who would play the roles of the very important cast of supporting characters that help to unfold the story line? 

I really haven’t thought much about a movie of my life, per se (although I think I want Sandra Bullock to play me), but when I think about the cast of supporting characters who have contributed in significant ways in my life along the way, I am not sure a movie could accommodate all of them.  So many people would be left out.

I have talked before about the role life changing events or people play in our lives, or at least the role they have the potential to play when we are paying attention. 

I have not always paid attention at the time, but when I first became ill, I made a list of people that I knew made an impact one way or another in my life.  My diagnosis at that time was rule out ALS, which made me really take some stock in my life. 

The purpose of this list was to make sure these people knew how significant they really were in my life up to that point. 

We say thank you as a courtesy in everyday conversations, but I am not sure that we take the time to express our gratitude to those who have made impacts on our lives.  We think we can do that later or perhaps that they must already know. 

Even back then, when I made this list, I did not follow through with my intentions.  There are so many people on this list, and there would be so many more if I were to sit down and make this list again today. 

Each chapter of my life has had its own cast of supporting characters and some of them carry over, while others I only met one time or the time our paths crossed was brief. 

I have tried very hard in more recent years to express this appreciation along the way to those who are in my life, but I worry that I cannot convey the depths of my feelings adequately with words.  I tend to over-thank and do not mean to diminish its meaning.

Do you know that you made a significant impact on my life?  Regardless of the nature of my relationship with most people I have encountered along the way, each of them has made an impact and an impact that has allowed me to continue to grow forward into who I am now. 

The thing is that I know which of you impacted me and in what way you impacted me because I have a memory like an elephant for these things.  I am talking positive experiences and negative ones because I see the positive growth in both. 

Therefore, I thank you for pissing me off as much as I thank you for being thoughtful.  I thank you for breaking my heart, for taking extra time out of your day to listen to what I needed to share, or for sharing what you needed to share.

You have all been right there, right when I needed you to be and you played the role in my life you were meant to play.  While I figure out a way to better let you each know this along the way, please hear me when I say that I am grateful for you with my whole heart and you do make a difference in the lives of others (me). 

I could not have gotten to this point in my life without any of you, so a movie of my life would have to star the entire cast of supporting characters!