Hoppy

We work with a man in the archives named Hoppy.  Sorry I don't know his real name but that is what everyone calls him.  I really like him and decided he is the heart of our office.  You know the kind of person who goes out of their way to include everyone.  Our first week at the archives we went in to have lunch in the staff lunchroom and he was there.  He spent time telling us about the different rules about the area--if there is food (like a bowl of apples) left on the table we are welcome to have some--to use the microwave you need to do the following--what we had to see while we were in New Hampshire.  I really appreciated him that day and have grown to appreciate him even more.  He organized a luncheon for a staff member who was leaving to go work at the state legislature as a researcher.  He gathered money from all of us to buy Christmas gifts for two teenage boys in the foster care program.  He did all the shopping himself. You see what I mean about the heart of the office.

When I worked at Green Tree East we had two wonderful employees who were the heart of our office. They were Pam Smith and Yvonne Angel.  If any child came into our office the love radiated from both of them.  Yvonne would always ask "mija or mijo" what they needed.  Pam always knew every single child's name and I mean every one.  Their hearts embraced the children but also the parents who walked in the front door.  A smile awaited each visitor and what they needed would be taken care of in a kind and concerned way.  But their hearts also extended to the teachers as well.  No matter how crazy things were they would stop what they were doing and help a teacher.  They were incredible women and I was privileged to work with them for many years.

Thinking about people who were the heart I thought about our family.  I decided that our Ben was the heart of our family.  All of our kids were great but Ben's heart added so much to our home.  If something needed to be done it was Ben who would be doing it before I could even ask.  He was the steward over scripture study, family home evening, and prayer.  I remember him working hard to put together a book for our family with ideas for refreshments, lessons, and activities.  When we were keeping track of reading our scriptures Ben was always so excited to put whatever we were using on the calendar.  Ben got along with everyone and I think he added much to the peace in our home.  Ben was our heart.  Do you have someone in your family like Ben?