You Matter

In Brooklyn's Greenwood Cemetery, there is a beautiful gravestone that reads "Jane My Wife". It immortalizes in marble the last moment Charles Griffith saw his beloved wife, Jane, alive as he left for work on August 3, 1857. When he returned home that evening, she had passed away from heart failure. Never wanting to forget the final moment that he saw her beautiful, loving gaze, he had it sculpted on her tombstone. For the next 25 years, he regularly visited that grave to remember that moment and mourn her until he himself passed away.

I don't know where Jane was born. I have no idea what her favorite meal was or what kind of music she enjoyed. I do know that she was loved by Charles. She mattered.

Graveyards are filled with tombstones inscribed with simple messages of regard and love left by family members. Some of them are worn away now, and everyone who knew that person is long gone, but that stone proves that, to someone at some point, they mattered and made a difference. They might even have been the most important person in their life.

You and I may not be remembered beyond our grandchildren, but I promise you that to someone right now, wherever you are, you matter. Whether you feel like you're making a difference or not, whether you feel like you're successful or falling behind, and even if you feel like giving up, remember this: you matter to someone else.

That's all that's important. If you're a millionaire or a pauper, take a moment to see what's really valuable today. It's not a fancy car or possession that you may ultimately sell or give away. It's that person who loves you and needs your guidance and example.

Regardless of how you feel about yourself, you are more important to someone else than you ever imagined. In a world where you can be anything, be yourself. Because you matter.

"You matter because you are you, and you matter to the last moment of your life." – Elisabeth Kübler-Ross