I Appreciate You.

Remember when you were little and your parents prompted you with, “What do you say?” after someone complimented you on anything? Or when you had to write a note to the person who gave you a birthday or Christmas present to say how great you thought their present was and that you’ll use it everyday for the rest of your life?

Thank You. I’ve always been obsessed with saying “Thank You”.

UNC Dance Marathon has taken this obsession to a new level because people are constantly helping me do things that I simply wouldn’t be able to do alone. Like collecting donations at a football game. Like attending a committee meeting. Like agreeing to help roll hundreds of coins. Like when someone brings you lunch every Tuesday and Thursday because they know otherwise you wouldn’t eat between 9a.m. and 6p.m.

Needless to say, I am a bit blessed to have all this wonderful support and love thrown in my direction. And I’m constantly writing notes thanking people for their sweet actions that make my day so much better.

But sometimes “thank you” doesn’t seem like it’s enough. Sometimes I feel like it doesn’t begin to touch how much their time and energy means to me. Kind of like how a friend and I were talking about how much people toss around “I love you.” Like it means nothing, but you intend for it to mean so much. Ultimately, if you say it enough it’s going to lose its glory.

My favorite blogger, Kelle Hampton, recently wrote about how her daughter looked at her one day and said, “I like you”. She talked about how her daughter seemed to carefully choose her words, trying to express the fact that not only did she love her for being her mom, she also liked spending time with her.

I dig that concept.

(The point of these pictures? I appreciate their weirdness.)

So last weekend while I was canning, an older man walked up to chat about UNC Dance Marathon. He wanted to know about the cause and where the money went. He wanted to know how we stood for 24 hours and what hard work it must be to put something like the marathon together. People say these things all the time, but I’ll never forget what he said afterwards. He said, “My grandson is in the hospital right now. And I appreciate you.”

“I appreciate you.” How thoughtful are those words? They have so much more meaning than “thank you”.

The last few weeks have flown by with the many canning adventures, the classes, the meetings and other things that fill my day to the brim. And yet, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I appreciate everything about my life. My cup runneth over.

But more than anything, I appreciate those in my life. I appreciate the constant love and the sweet moments. I appreciate the nights going out and the uncontrollable laughter. I appreciate friendships and their meaning. I appreciate this beautiful campus and every single one of its students who work to make this world a better place. And I appreciate the hard work people have put in to make my life better.

"Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well." - Voltaire

I appreciate you.