It had been 10 years since Charley’s original interns had been together. It was sad that Charley’s death was what brought them together again. He had just finished his 10th class of 10 interns and all 100 were there for his funeral. Charley had been private about his personal life, so there was no family present. His tombstone read simply: CHARLEY: HE MADE A DIFFERENCE. There was no date, or last name. No one ever knew his last name or if Charley was his real first name.
As each class gathered in Charley’s home, they began to share stories. Charley had shared information about each of them in his intern believer’s network but this was the first time they had been together.
Angie, a member of Charley’s third class, tapped on her glass to quiet everyone. “I’m pretty sure that Charley would like us to make this a discovery learning experience. Could we honor Charley by taking a few moments to capture our favorite quotes for making a difference?” Everyone agreed and started writing down a quote that was special to them. Many were the same, but each intern had one to share. Angie then asked if the original interns would share theirs.
“Strength doesn’t come from what you can do. It comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldn’t.” – Rikki Rogers
“You never fail until you stop trying.” – Albert Einstein
“You must expect great things of yourself before you can do them.” – Michael Jordan
“In a gentle way, you can shake the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi
“Be the change you want to see in the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi
“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” – George Bernard Shaw
“Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice, and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.” – Pele
“Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.” – Kurt Vonnegut
“The two most important days of your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why.” – Mark Twain
“Some people look at the world and say ‘why’? Other people look at the world and say ‘why not’?” – George Bernard Shaw
After being inspired by the quotes, Angie asked each of the interns to provide her with their quotes so she could compile them in a document. Then Brian from the fifth class spoke up, “Can we take some time and think together about how we can sustain Charley’s legacy? We can’t just let this stop with his death.” They all agreed to reconvene the next day to work through how they would continue to develop young difference makers.
* * *
“How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” – A.A. Milne