A Simple "Thank You"

When was the last time you said "thank you" to someone? To your parents, a teacher, or a friend? A simple "thank you" can have such a great impact on a person, sometimes more than you would expect. When someone thanks you after doing a favor or good deed, don't you just feel good. Good that you helped someone out. Your spirits seem to raise and sometimes, an occasional smile on your face. I have always tried to make an effort to thank people for helping me out or something, but I didn't truly understand how much weight and meaning those two little words beared.
This past Sunday at church, Pastor Wayne talked about the power of words. He said that the one thing that everyone has in common is the "hunger for sincere appreciation". He told a story about how even people who do heroic acts need appreciation whether it is just a simple "thank you". It is a story that will remain in my heart. It was around the 1860's when a passenger boat was crossing Lake Michigan, going from Chicago to Milwaukee. A lumber schooner collided with it and caused the boat to sink, killing 279 people. It wasn't far from land and a North Western University student named Edward Spence was on shore and saw the whole thing happen. He dove into the water and tried to save as many people as he could. He made seventeen trips back and forth, saving seventeen people. Unfortunately, on the seventeenth returning trip, he went unconsious from the freezing cold water. For the rest of his life, he was paralyzed from the waist down. Many years later, the univeristy awarded him a plaque honoring his bravery and courage. When a newspaper interviewed him for an article, they asked him, "What is the one thing that has stuck with you about the whole experience?" He took a moment and answered, "The one thing that has remained with me for all these years is that, not one of those seventeen people ever said 'thank you'".