I never forgot the first time my wife convinced me to attend a dinner at a longtime Slidell restaurant, Ray’s Bull Pen, and I heard a preacher say something that stuck with me to this day.
He said, “everyone needs approval.” It’s so true, and clearly God created us with some kind of need to hear from others that we have done good in our lives.
As I have gotten older, I try to remember that and find opportunities to tell someone that I appreciate them, or in the case of kids and grandkids, provide praise and approval for things they’ve done in their lives. I think it usually means a lot more than we can imagine.
With the opportunity I have with the newspaper, and the fact I have written feature stories for many years, it gives me a chance that few others have. I get to write stories that are essentially like the old TV show, “This is Your Life.” And the more I run the Slidell Independent, I am constantly aware of who I see that deserves a public mention of a job well done.
Thanking others for influencing your life or performing an act of kindness in any number of ways, is something we all should do. It usually takes years of living to realize how important that is, so now when I conduct interviews, I listen for the individual to mention someone who helped them achieve their success, and I try to always include that.
Sometimes that “thanks” can go further than the person who got mentioned, and I appreciate hearing from those I write about who say they got a response to their story in one way or another. In other words, people return the thanks for simply being remembered.
Buddy Wilcox told me one of those stories last week. He is the longtime owner and operator at his East Gause Tire business on Gause Boulevard. I wrote about Buddy some months ago, telling his story of starting in the business across town at the Pontchartrain Drive location of a Goodyear dealership, started by Don Ladner. It was the place Buddy learned so much about the tire and auto business, and also about business, about life, and how to use his business to give back to the community.
Clearly, Buddy has done that with over 40 years in the business now, with a very successful tire and auto repair business. So when I interviewed him about his background and how he achieved his success, he made sure to talk about the way Don taught him so much.
Buddy said he recently received a call from Don’s daughter, who said the mention in the paper meant so much to her. He shared that call with me, and it showed that his thoughtfulness to make sure his mentor was credited went one step further, touching his daughter now that Don is passed.
I had another recent feature you might have read during the Christmas holiday with Bruce Olivier, a longtime builder in Slidell who made sure to include his faith in God throughout his long career in all he did. Bruce wrote me recently to say he had over 80 calls, e-mails or texts from people who saw the story and obviously told him that the public acknowledgment of his life was good to see. I am happy I played a small part in letting Bruce hear that—he is a man who earned it.
When we take a little time to say kind words to others it can go further than we might ever imagine. And the old saying of, “we never know what someone else is going through,” might be an even more important reason to pass out a little approval or thanks when you see the opportunity.
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My condolences to the family of Bob Stroud, the longtime Ozone Camellia Club president, mentor and everything else camellias, who passed away recently.
I wrote several stories on Bob or the club over the years and spent one afternoon at his house to see all his flowers and how he bred them to create brand new camellia lines. He was an amazing guy when it came to camellias and was recognized throughout the U.S. for his knowledge and expertise. He is clearly the biggest reason the Ozone Club continues to remain active today and it is sad to see that he won’t be around now to continue and teach others.
His daughter called me and asked that I mention the services, set for Saturday, Jan. 21, at 1 p.m. at Audubon Funeral Home in Slidell. As an Army veteran, he will be buried at the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Cemetery.
For those who had a connection to Bob, particularly through the club, I hope you will attend to offer those words of thanks and appreciation for all he did in Slidell.
Kevin Chiri can be reached by e-mail at kevinchiri@gmail.com.