The Ripple Effect

A few weeks ago I received a lunch invitation from a buddy of mine with whom I served in the Army.  He told me he wanted to get together so he could thank me and he told me he’d explain why when we met.

I served with Frank a decade ago and he was one of the best soldiers I’ve ever known and a great leader.  Today he is a teacher and I have no doubt that he’s an effective and caring educator. 

I had not seen him in several years but I frequently think about him and the other soldiers that I served with in the Army.  In fact, rarely a day passes without my thoughts turning to what has happened (and is happening) on the other side of the world.  Frank and I deployed together twice for both wars after 9/11.  From the fall of 2001 through the summer of 2003, we were abroad far more than we were home – so much so that I spent more holidays with him than I did with my wife after our June 2001 wedding.   

I was looking forward to seeing him and curious about why he wanted to thank me. 

Yesterday we met and he wasted no time letting me know.  He said, “Scott, you’re not going to believe this.  A few months ago I saw a letter to the editor that you wrote about the Post 9/11 GI Bill and I saw that you were using the GI Bill to further your education.  I thought, ‘what in the world is he doing?’  So, I checked it out and lo and behold, I was eligible too. I’m now taking additional graduate level classes at Georgia State and I’m thinking about pursuing my Ed.D.  If I hadn’t seen your letter, I wouldn’t have even thought this would be possible.” 

We then had a great discussion and shared war stories and talked about public education, a subject that we both care about deeply.  At the end of our conversation, I thanked him for telling me about how my letter impacted him and I admitted that I was really surprised because I never could have imagined my letter leading to a good friend furthering his education.  He replied, “Our actions make ripples.  Sometimes we learn how those ripples impact others, sometimes we don’t.”

He’s right.  And it’s a lesson I won’t soon forget.