About iThankYou
How It Started
One day I was sitting back reflecting on all the people who have helped impact my life, so I started making a list to say thank you. As I was making the list I wondered if I would be listed on someone else’s thank you list. Not completely sure I could answer yes to that question, from that point on I decided I needed to impact someone’s life enough to be on there “iThankYou” list.
Impacting someone’s life doesn’t have to be complicated or even difficult. It can be as simple as paying a single mothers’s rent for a month or even covering the monthly expenses of a family with a child in the hospital so they can be off of work to be with there child for some time. The more I did, the more I saw and realized there are so many more people who could use this little piece of hope in their life.
My iThankYou
As one of twelve children and growing up around Boston, Massachusetts I didn’t have a typical childhood. Growing up poor and in such a large family, I had unique experiences that taught me lessons that most kids never learn. Some of these lessons were not always good, but the ones that impacted my life the most were the people who went out of their way to help a young street kid.
Mr Henry O Theberge was my middle school teacher who took a personal responsibility in my life, and kept me out of trouble. He started having me come to his class room to play Ping Pong after school, so I wouldn’t get into mischief. Every day we played Mr Theberge always tried to teach me something new. He would talk to me about science, seeing the world, and how he designed and built his very own home. No matter what the lesson, he always found a way to encourage me and build up my confidence. These lessons still help me today so Thank you My Theberge.
Sally Down and her sister Mae would come into the restaurant I worked at while in college. Sally took a keen interest in me as she knew I was a struggling college student paying my way through college. Each time Sally came in for dinner she would request me as her waiter and leave me a very generous tip each time. At one point I even told her “this was too much money” she then asked me if I have ever been golfing. I laughed as I was a street kid from the city who didn’t really have that type of experience growing up. So instead of giving me a large tip she offered to teach me how to golf. Over the next couple years Sally not only taught me how to golf, she had me join her family for the holidays and other special occasions. She took a personal interest in my life and helped teach me things a poor city kid usually doesn’t learn. Thank You Sally.
Billy and Bobby are my older twin brothers and have impacted my life more than anyone else. Growing up in a dysfunctional, poor family you can easily get trapped and go down the wrong road. My older brothers would protect me from seeing the darkness in our community until I was old enough. They would help me be a kid who laughed and dreamed like every kid should. As I grew older, they were always there for me no matter what they had going on personally in their lives at the time. They always found a way to help me and be there for me even before I asked. Thank You Billy & Bobby.
So many other people have helped me throughout my life and that’s what iThankYou is all about.