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When Amy was 3 months old, we found out that she would probably never reach 5 feet. I know that at 3 months that hardly seems like something anyone could predict, but she had not grown at all since she was 6 weeks old, and my doctor being a seasoned pediatrician, and after examining her, concluded that, “If she reached 5 feet, he would be surprised. Well, he was right, and today my little girl is a 4 foot 11 inch adult. But don’t think she is a wimp, because you would be wrong.
Amy had her little blond moments as a child, like the time she brought the outfit she wanted to wear out to the kitchen and put it on. Then she started looking around for something…all over the kitchen. Finally I said, “What are you looking for?” She answered, “My shirt!!” I answered, “You have it on!!” She looked down in total surprise to find the shirt on, just like I had said. She did have her blond moments.
And then there was the time that we were walking into Kmart. Amy was about 3 or so. She was just ahead of me as we walked through the parking lot, and she always had a tendency to look behind her or around herself and she walked forward. So, suddenly I hollered to her to look where she was going, but it was too late…Amy walked right into the bumper of a parked car. She wasn’t hurt, but I found myself having a hard time not laughing about it.
All kidding aside though, our little blond is a very capable, and really not blond-like most of the time, adult, who is a great help to me. I might tease her a little, but I don’t know what I would ever do without her. Amy and her sister are two people I can count on…no matter what I have to ask them to do. The life of a caregiver, which both of my daughters are, is a tough one, and those who have not been there, don’t understand. Many people would not take on the challenges of caregiving, but when the needs arose, my girls were there for 
me, and their grandparents, on both sides. They know what it takes, and they don’t give up. Ever!! That is…priceless!! I know that those commercials are done in a joking way, but really, all joking aside…my girls are priceless!!
When they say that big things can come in small packages, it was Amy that they had in mind. And I am so blessed. How could I have been so blessed? It is a question for which there is no answer. Today is our precious little blond’s birthday, and I can’t say enough about what a wonderful honor it is to be her mom. Happy birthday dear Amy!! We love you very much!!
Lots of people follow the crowd…go along with their peers. If all their friends are being negative, rude, or disrespectful, then so do they. Everyone, it seems, is out for themselves. Doing things only if they will bring benefit to self. It seems like it is an “I, Me” world.
Still, there are people out there who specifically set out to be different than the rest. People who set aside their own needs and desires in order to do something nice or helpful for others. They are all around you, whether you know it or not. The man who stops to help someone change a flat tire, the the person who assists an elderly person with mobility problem to get up from a chair that is low, or helps a caregiver to transfer a loved one into the car from a wheelchair when they are not feeling well, and obviously to weak to stand easily.
These people usually remain nameless, because we either don’t know them, or we don’t see them do the nice things they do. Or maybe it is because they don’t do it for recognition, but rather because it is the right thing to do. They don’t do it for pay or for fame, but because they care about people. And they don’t even consider themselves to be heroes…but they are.
The funny thing is that each of us has the potential to be that person…to be different. It is 
a choice each of us can and must make when the opportunity presents itself. When we don’t look the other way when someone needs help, or when we can simply go out of our way to do something nice. And when we get the chance to step outside ourselves, to put others first, to ease someone’s pain, to give help where it is needed…when we get that chance and we take it…we learn what it is to be different.
Some people seem to have a heart for people. They seem to know what is needed and they just do it. My nephew, Garrett is one of those people. After church services, when my mom, his grandma needs help getting up and out to the car, Garrett just shows up at her side. He never has to be asked, he has just taken that responsibility as his own. It does make it easier on everyone else, and we sure miss him whenever he isn’t there.
He is no stranger to responsibility. At a young age, he decided to help at the church by becoming an usher. Unusual for a high school student. And while he isn’t the only young person to do that, it made me proud of his dedication. It is a big responsibility to take on, because you need to be there, and pay attention to what is going on…to be where you are needed.
And whenever there is a big project going on, Garrett is there to help out. 
Maybe he likes making things, I don’t know, but he digs right in and helps out. Once a year, we do some big project for my mom for Mother’s Day, and he is always one of the people who always show up to help. I don’t know if he knows how much that means to us or not, but I’m telling him right here that it means a lot!! These projects are usually big, and the more people you have to help, the better. The adults can always be counted on, but the kids…well it’s a smaller group, and Garrett is always one of them.
Garrett loves kids. He always has. It is very rare that Garrett isn’t holding or playing with the little ones that are around at family gatherings. And they love him. That is another rarity, but it is pretty common, it you have a heart for people…especially little people, a Garrett does. So many teenage boys don’t really want the little kids hanging around, but he always makes them feel like they are wanted there, even requested. 
Do you know what that means to a little kid…EVERYTHING!! That is what Garrett gives the little ones.
Not everyone has a heart for people. It is a rare gift indeed. Those who do, stand out as kind, generous, loving, compassionate people. It is a quality we should all strive to have. That ability to set self aside, and look for the needs of others. If there were more people like that out there…what a wonderful world this really would be. That is how Garrett is, and I am very proud of those qualities he possesses that make him the wonderful man that he has become.
