“No one has ever come in to visit just to thank me!” - Pat Harris

Living for Crumbs

Pat Harris was working in his office on the second floor.  The room is large.  It is also largely full.  The walls are covered with photos, newspaper clippings and other personal memorabilia.  So much so that one could spend days surveying them.  It is museum-like with each piece being a crumb making up part of Pat’s life.

“No one has ever come in to visit just to thank me!  They always come in to complain about something.”  Pat said, after hearing the sincere thank you expressing gratitude for all he provides.  Yet, this one thanks initially seemed like a crumb, as if lost in an ocean, compared to the sea of other comments he was referring to. But, a crumb can be a suggestion of the availability of more.

“Quiet.”  I said to Harry Pupper while on our morning walk and feeling crumbs at the bottom of his bag of treats.  The words alone captured Harry’s attention.  But, there was more of him to capture.  So, I felt around inside his treat bag until I felt two nuggets and pulled them out, while expending my arm in preparation to drop them as a reward.  Harry watched my hand intently as my fingers rolled the two scrumptious pieces.  But, the main pieces didn’t drop.  A couple of crumbs fell instead.

Harry surged forward seeking his much-anticipated reward.  His nose twitched.  His legs darted back and forth searching for the inadvertently dropped crumb.  He was searching for more.  Deeper satisfaction.  He was so intent on finding the crumbs, he barely heard my request to look up.  To look for more.

More was on its way.  I finally put my hand down near his snout so his sense of smell could shift his heart so it could be controlled by his brain.  Finally, he sat quietly, looking up expectantly.  I dropped one treat.  He caught it in a watering mouth.  I dropped the second tidbit.  His heart was full as soon as it tingled his taste buds.  Harry was glad he hadn’t simply settled for crumbs!

Pat Harris was settled in, working in his crumb-of-memories-filled office on the second floor.  The room is large.  It’s also seemingly largely full.  The walls are covered with photos, newspaper clippings and other personal memorabilia.  So much so that one could spend days studying them.  It is museum-like with each memorable piece being crumb-like, making up part of Pat’s life.

“No one has ever come in to visit just to thank me!  They always come in to complain about something.”  Pat said, after hearing a sincere thank you, expressing gratitude for all he provides.  

One small thanks may initially seem like a crumb, as if lost in an ocean, compared to the sea of other comments he was referring to. Yet, a crumb can be a suggestion of the availability of more.

Showing personal gratitude to those we live and work with may not seem like much.  But, when offered regularly, simple, added-up appreciation has the ability to shift a brain, overwhelmed by crumbs of unhappiness, toward heart-felt joy and satisfaction.