Tell me what we got, tell me it's a lot, tell me it's the real thing Tell me not to change and always be the same, tell me that's a good thing

Today this man walked into my office and asked me if I could help him. He said that he had a friend in another country who was a nurse and wanted to come to Canada. I told him that I could give him the info for the appropriate person to contact. I had to repeat myself a couple of times because he was hard of hearing. He told me he wasn't very good at talking on the phone so would it be okay if he could talk to someone face to face. Now normally, we don't really have meetings with people who walk in off the street without an appointment. He continued to tell me that he would wait however long it would take for someone to be free. To tell you the truth, if it was anyone else, I would have told them to call the number but this man looked so sincere and almost desperate. I told him I would go and look to see if the consultant was free and ask her to come out to talk to him. I turned to open the door to go and find someone. As I turned my back to him he said, 'Please do the best that you can.' It was almost like my conscience was speaking to me. So I went and found the person and told her what the situation was. She kind of gave me a snicker (not in a bad way). She came out with me and escorted the man to her office to talk with him. I saw him leaving and then he came over to my desk and said thank you. It was a little odd because he was standing off to the corner. I stood up and looked and him and I saw that his eyes were filled with tears that started streaming down his face. I could see the appreciation in his eyes. A true moment. I made sure he looked at me and I said 'you're welcome'. He turned away and I said 'have a good day'. As he walked away he said, 'you have a good day too'.

Later, the consultant that the old man talked to asked me if he said thank you to me. She said that he told her that he wanted to thank me. I told her that he did and that he cried.

I hope he will be reunited with his friend some day soon.

And I will turn off And I will shut down Burying the voices of my conscience hitting ground

When I worked for the Ministry doing workshops in schools, I used to get a lot of letters, card, artwork from students. I have kept it all. There is this one poem that I got from a group of elementary school students after we had visited their school. They put this poem on yellow construction paper and decorated it. They also all signed the back. I have always kept this poem close to me, in fact, I've always put it near my desk at work since. So, I'm going to share it here too because it serves as a reminder to me to not lose myself in the midst of what I do or am trying to become. Ironically, sometimes it's so easy to lose yourself when you are in the process of 'becoming'-- if that makes sense.

THE MAN IN THE GLASS

When you get what you want in your struggle for self

And the world makes you King for a day,

Just go to a mirror and look at yourself

And see what THAT man has to say.

For it isn't your father or mother or wife

Whose judgement upon you must pass,

The fellow whose verdict counts most in you life

Is the one staring back from the glass.

Some people might think you're a straight-shootin' chum

And call you a wonderful guy.

But the man in the glass says you're only a bum

If you can't look him straight in the eye

He's the fellow to please, never mind all the rest

For he's with you clear to the end

And you've passed your most dangerous test

If the guy in the glass is your friend.

You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years

And get pats on the back as you pass

But your final reward will be heartache and tears

If you've cheated the man in the glass.

I want to believe there's something to believe I would live only just to believe I'd love to believe It's not only me that's longing.....to believe

A Man sees in the world what he carries in his heart

-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe