Would you send this letter?

[Janet Hill]

ok I'll be the dissenting voice.

Good for you for getting your life together. You did it yourself. She sent you home for misbehaving. Good for her. She may have never had another thought about it other than, "well that problem is gone." After she sent you home did she ever have anymore contact? She did her job and you gave some thought to if I want to participate in life's fun stuff, I have to deserve it. I'm not sure how she went above and beyond to influence your life.

I'm very Freudian in my thought processes though and truly don't believe altruistic people exist.

 

[stinkerbelle's mom]

Send it!

 

[Owlpost23]

Send it! That is maturity and gratitude.

 

[Tinijocaro]

Absolutely send it. What if they have been wondering all this time if in your case, they made theright call. Your letter will let them know that they did.

Without getting into too many details, here's the situation: Many, many years ago, when I was a teen, I was a miserable, self-destructive mess and my attitude problems led to me getting sent home from a place that I loved. At the time, I hated the person who sent me home and was mighty PO'ed.

Of course, time has a way of making things clear and I now know that being sent home from that place was the best thing that could have happened because it finally exposed what an awful person I was becoming. I made changes in my life, got help, and now live a sweet life. Had this person not sent me home, I might have remained a mess and have made some stupid choices. I might have come to a realization about my life eventually, but I would have been much older and made many more mistakes. This person headed me off early, before I could do too much damage to myself or others.

So here's the thing: The person who tossed me out is receiving a prestigious "lifetime service award" kind of thing and I saw it in the newspaper. I've thought of sending this person a letter (far less threatening or invasive than a phone call or email) and letting them know what a difference they made in my life and that they made the right decision in sending me home, but part of me thinks it's stupid and I should probably just let it be.

It's not like I'm dying or anything and have deathbed words to get off my chest, but I just think maybe this person should know that their actions made a difference and that I appreciate it now. But the other part of me says I'm being overly dramatic and stupid and, even if this person remembered me (which is a long shot), they probably wouldn't want to hear about an incident that happened so long ago.

So what would you do? Would you send the letter, or would you let sleeping dogs lie?

 

[MichelleinMaine]

send it! Showing gratitude and appreciation is never wrong. I bet you make that person's day.

As an ed major in college, we had to send a letter to one of our teachers who had made an impact on our lives. Mine was probably a less intense story than yours seems to be, but my teacher was thrilled to hear he had made a difference to me.

 

[Robinrs]

Please send it. It's amazing how we are used by a higher source to get a message to someone but never know the outcome. Let her know... it's both of your blessings!!

 

[UnderTheMistletoe]

Send it. The person had a positive impact on your life. Always better to say what you need to say than to regret not having said it. Heck, John Mayer even wrote a song about that!