At a dinner party, people were talking about people in their lives who had meant much to them.  The famous preacher, William Stidger, told the story of a Mrs. Wendt, an old school teacher who 30 years before had gone out of her way to introduce him to Tennyson.  One of the dinner party members asked Stidger, "Does Mrs. Wendt know that she made such a contribution to your life?"

That caught William Stidger -- he became troubled that he had never bothered to say thanks.  That evening, before he went to bed, he wrote a letter to Mrs. Wendt even though he didn't know if she was still alive or where she lived.

His letter was eventually forwarded from town to town, and it finally reached Mrs. Wendt.  The feeble hand of Mrs. Wendt wrote this in reply: 

"My dear Willie, I can't tell you how much our note meant to me.  I'm in my 80's, living alone in a small room, cooking my own meals, lonely and like the last leaf of fall, lingering behind.  You will be interested to know that I taught school for 50 years, and yours is the first note of appreciation I ever received.  It came on a blue, cold morning, and it cheered me as nothing has in many years.”

Is there someone you need to speak a grateful word to?  Do it now.