People Matter - by Michael Dascoli
Have you ever lived through a personal or family crisis? Can you recall a time when someone(s) stepped in at just the right moment and did something so practical that it seemed to shout, “You are not alone! You matter! We are (I am) here for you”? If you answered yes to any of those questions, can you relate when I say, “Those are life-giving moments”? It’s as if you’re dying of thirst when someone offers you a glass of cool water. Or, you feel like you’re suffocating and someone breathes fresh oxygen into your system. I remember a time when I was a child that my dad had a heart attack. Our family was already living below the poverty line. Now dad, who was our sole provider, couldn’t work. Oh, the thoughts that raced through my seven-year-old mind as stress in our home was so thick you could cut it with a knife. “Will dad live? What will happen to us should he die? Will Christmas be a sad affair?” Then, one evening, a group of my dad’s buddies showed up unexpectedly at our fron