“I just wanted to let you know how grateful I am for you.”
Mr Yates, I just wanted to let you know how grateful I am for you. You have made a huge impact on my life and I will never forget you for that. I have always had big dreams for my life ad future. All my life I have been working towards something bigger. 5 months ago, I thought all that I have worked for would be taken from me. It was the scariest experience I have ever been through. Who would have thought that one night that I don’t even remember could destroy my entire life? I sure didn’t. I was just a stranger to you, a pathetic girl crying in your office. You could have turned me away but you didn’t. Doing time in jail would have destroyed everything I have worked for in school. I would have lost my cars that I worked so hard to buy. I would have lost my job, and many relationships. I would have had felonies on my record. I would have never been able to pursue the career in counseling that I wanted. It would have been difficult for me to get a job anywhere, really. My life was literally crumbling before my eyes, and there was nothing I could do. No matter what I did, all I could think about was the horrible looming fact that I could easily lose everything I had. I had lost all hope. I want to thank you for giving that back to me. Hope is really all we need in this world, and yet there is so many things that can steal it from us. All of my hope had been taken in one horrible night. I went from a girl with a promising future to a criminal in the eyes of strangers. However you looked at me and saw something else. Amidst the judgmental people in this world who were looking at me through the lens of my charges, you knew I wasn’t some kind of criminal. I didn’t even have to try to convince you, you just knew. Teary eyed and ready to give up, I was getting up to leave your office when you stopped me and told me you would help me. It is amazing how much that decision of yours has altered my life for the better. I am sure you are aware of how skilled you are in what you do. However it is not your skill in law that makes me respect you so much – although it is impressive. It is the big heart you have. Many other lawyers would have turned me away, and I want you to know that I realize and appreciate that. Every time I was feeling doubtful and scared, you could see it in my face and reassured me. You had to tell me several times over the past few months that everything would be alright; and in my fear sometimes thought you were only saying it to make me feel better, but you were right. Everything is more than alright. I am able to build my life back, and I am able to go to school like I love. You have made a significant difference in how my life could have tuned out. I wanted to be a counselor because I wanted to help people in need. I wanted to be there for people who felt hopeless and alone; people that didn’t have that person to tell them that everything is going to be alright. I am grateful for this experience, because it has taught me that true feeling. But most of all, it has taught me what true empathy and compassion looks like. I watched you take someone so helpless and hopeless, and give them the belief that everything would be alright again. I want to do that someday for people, and this experience has shown me that human services is the path I truly want to take. I can only hope that someday I can be as wonderful of a person as you. You have all the qualities people strive for. You are a true hero. Thank you for everything.