Words matter.

Kindness matters.

Love matters.

This evening I received a message, just a few short sentences, that made my day.

When we take the time to share kindness, we never quite know how much those words mean. Trust me, they can, and often do, mean a lot.

They can mean more than a lot. They can fill a person with satisfaction and love and wonder and happiness.

Words matter. Kindness matters. Love matters.

These are the words that were shared with me:

“Hi Dr. Sem!! I am at Ripken for a baseball tournament for my son and a team from Ridgewood is here. I road the elevator with them and asked if they knew you…they let out a resounding “YESSSSSS!!!” And, “I love Dr. Sem. I’m so sad he retired, he was the BEST!!” Just thought you should know how your legacy lives on, in a random elevator, with complete strangers, in Aberdeen, Maryland, with a shared love of baseball. Super sweet.”

Knowing I made such a difference, and that people have such fond memories of the work I did, and me, fills me with joy and satisfaction and a lot of humbleness.

For 14 years, I was the principal of the greatest school in the world. It was a pleasure and an honor and in so many ways it was the best.

And people told me I was very good at what I did. And maybe I was.

But more, I was a reflection of the goodness and the love and the kindness from the students, the teachers, the parents, the staff, and the community around me. It wasn’t me that was great – it was all of them. I was simply the fortunate one to be surrounded and built up by so many others.

It is so nice to receive kind words. Those words made my day. I’ll think about them a lot. I’ll appreciate them. Forever.

I encourage everyone to send some kind words of their own to someone that matters. You just might make someone smile.

You just might make somebody’s day.

Like these people did for me.