By Anthony T. Eaton
I originally shared this in 2018, but its relevance remains timeless, so I’m sharing it again. At the time, I was working for a large construction company in Dallas, and one of my colleagues forwarded the following message to my manager.
“I know you are a very busy person, so I will try to keep this short. I want to send you a positive story about Anthony Eaton, Manager of Service Delivery.
Without going into great detail, my husband recently passed away, and my boss allowed me to work from home for the last few weeks of his life. Rewind to November when Anthony Eaton asked if I would like him to share his “Quote of the Day.” I said “YES” because my husband was so ill, and I loved getting anything that kept my thoughts off of negative situations and on to encouraging thoughts. Fast forward to the end of January, when I was working from home, and I was still receiving the “Quote of the Day.” Anthony’s emails helped me get through the tough days.
On February 6, 2018, almost two weeks before my husband passed, Anthony sent a quote from Jane Goodall – “What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” That was my wake-up call that, yes, I was saddened by my husband having a short time left, and I wanted to make a peaceful difference in my husband’s life.
I spoke to my husband with a smile on my face, sharing with him how much I loved him. I let him know that soon he would be out of pain and would be with other family members that loved him very much, such as his grand-daddy who taught him to build, his uncle who taught him to hunt and fish, his momma who taught him to be tough and my grandmother, who loved him for loving me. I encouraged everyone who came into our home to speak with my husband about the good he brought into their lives. They all did. Even our mail person came in to thank my husband for always being kind for sharing tips on how to take care of his guns (my husband was a gunsmith among his many hobbies) and the young man said with a smile on his face and tears in his eyes, “Mr. Chamberlain, you be sure to tell my daddy hello when you see him and tell him I love him.” That afternoon, my husband passed.
Now, back to Anthony. Those stories may not have happened if it wasn’t for Anthony sharing his “Quote of the Day.” I also want you to know that in November, he shared with me an article he wrote:
I read it twice the day he sent it to me and then set a follow-up to read again in December. I then skipped a couple of months of reading it but read it today and set a follow-up to reading again the middle of April. I believe this article helped me with my employees while I was in and out of the office with my husband. It also helps me with my employees when life situations hit them hard.
There has been so much happening with our company over the last few years that employees tend to side with the negative people with the negative thoughts, and I am so thankful for Anthony Eaton coming to our company and working so diligently to send a positive message. I appreciate you taking the time to read this email.”
Life is full of lessons if only we are willing to pay attention. The lesson here is that we never know our impact on someone’s life. This is an example of things coming full circle because at the time I needed a reminder that what I do matters.
In 2022 things would once again come full circle when I lost my husband to cancer. Unfortunately, my experience was not like the one my co-worker had and wrote about, which makes it even more poignant.
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