Feeling Thankful

As I wear all of the hats in this little enterprise, answering phones and returning calls is part of my job. If you have ever had a job where answering a phone is part of your job then you may have had a call or two with customers that would not get to the point and you felt pressure to hurry them along. Goodness gracious knows you wouldn't want to make your boss mad! You can sometimes get a feeling of what type of call it will by by the tone in the other persons voice. Are they angry? Appreciative? Tired? When a woman named Beverly called and left me a message the other day, inquiring about a paper catalog I could immediately feel my stress level go up a bit.

Being expensive to print and not having many requests for them, I had stopped making them a while ago. It has been my experience that most catalog customers do not have computers and usually do their shopping by phone. I was mentally preparing myself for the disappointment of having to tell a potential customer "no" to their lovely request. I called her back and let her know about the catalogs and she asked a few questions. And then a few more. And then a few more.... I started to feel a bit impatient when she was asking me about the cost of goods that I didn't make or carry. Then I stopped myself and realized that all she really wanted was a bit of company and a little chat.

Maybe it was the sweetness in her voice or that she reminded me of my grandmother but something kept me on the line and I didn't feel the need to beg her off or hurry her along. In conversing, I found out she was in the path of hurricane Sandy and wondered if she was in harms way. She told me about her grandson and how he checked in on her everyday in spite of his working 2 jobs. He sounds like a good boy. At 76, Beverly had just discovered her love of jewelry making and was looking for supply catalogs. We talked for a bit about jewelry and magazines and children and missing grandparents and I so enjoyed hearing about her life as a foster parent and and just enjoyed how wonderful her positive spirit is. She reminded me of how lucky we are and how blessed we are. Her final word were "You are wonderful!" I will carry her words in my heart... Thank you, Beverly, so are you.