The Power of Words | Book Inscription

The power of words give joy, move you to tears, show encouragement, inspire imagination, express love and admiration.

There are millions of books, letters, quotes and sayings in support of how powerful words can be.

Words of Appreciation

My boss of 20 years is retiring, and we had a retirement celebration of 100 current, retired and ex-employees in attendance.

Throughout the celebration, many employees were involved in giving gifts, performing funny skits, and sharing heartfelt words of his leadership and friendship.

After the accolades were bestowed upon him, Dennis expressed thankfulness and love for working with such an amazing dedicated staff.

Then he shared a story about a gift I had given him years ago…

The Power of Words

Dennis loves history and for his birthday, I had given him a New York Times bestseller about the Civil War called April 1865: The Month that Saved America written by Jay Wink.

At the time, he had been our executive director for more than four years and had made significant changes to our dysfunctional organization. Under his leadership, everyone witnessed the new beginnings of his hard fought positive changes!

Dennis brought that same book to the podium and read to the audience the words I had written on the inside cover.

This book is the most appropriate book for you because it is about great leaders! 
Thank you for being the leader we needed.
Thank you for being the leader who not only made changes but changed the direction of OHFA.
Thank you for being a leader who is fair.
Thank you for being the kind of leader who may disagree but never holds a grudge.
Thank you for being a leader who has a vision for the future of OHFA.
You deserve all the “atta boys” and “pats on the back” for placing OHFA on top and as a respectable place to work.

He told the audience, “What Darlene doesn’t know is after reading the book, I took the book to the copier, made a copy of what she had written, shrunk it to card size, laminated it, and have been carrying it in my wallet for the past 16 years.”

Dennis turned to me to say, “I want you to have it because the original is in the book.”

I had no idea the heartfelt words I wrote so many years ago meant so much to him.  Knowing he kept it in his wallet for 16 years meant so much to me. I’m going to miss him!

If you give someone a book for a gift, consider adding a handwritten inscription on the inside cover. It turns an ordinary gift into a thoughtful gift and the words you write could mean the world to that person!

Words nourish the soul.