Last week, I tracked down one of my primary care physicians, Dr. Lucy Lester, who is now head of the Pediatric Pulmonary Medicine Division. She started practicing medicine in 1980. By that time, I was a eight-year veteran of the CF clinic (and a precocious nine-year old).

I searched the web and found her contact information, I wrote her a letter. I thanked her for care. Her strong spirit had helped me survive my childhood and achieve my current life. I’m alive today, in no small part, to her.

My letter also included memories of a mutual friend. Dr. Rothberg was my primary care physician and her mentor for many years–and he was an amazing doctor who never talked down to children and radiated compassion. If I know Dr. Lester, she’ll probably laugh when she reads the memories.

I never tested positive for Cystic Fibrosis, so they were only able to treat my syptoms rather than diagnose what I had. I’d never had the CF genetic test, because I knew that the local physician would give me just a “yes/no” answer. They wouldn’t look at the results with a researcher’s eyes.

Dr. Lester still actively researches Cystic Fibrosis, Asthma, and other respiratory illnesses. I asked her if she thought access to me or my DNA would help a researcher investigating ways to help children breathe easier.

By the end of the letter, I had revisited my childhood through my eyes as an adult, and I’d gained a new appreciation for what others had done for me. I finished the letter with tears.

That’s my first story for the Gratitude Project. Now, I challenge you to go out and do the same. Find someone who shaped you, thank them, and then tell the story.

I’m challenging you to reconnect with someone who shaped you. Express your gratitude and tell them where you are today. If you do this right, you’ll produce surprise and delight. You’ll probably also get an emotional rush yourself.

There’s this huge myth of individualism in modern society. Somehow, we have to be “self-made” and pull ourselves up by the bootstraps. That’s crazy.

The world is complex and ever-changing. We can only get places through the help and active support of others–many of whom invested time and energy in us without any expectation of payback from us. They saw potential within us, and they acted on our behalf.

Here’s how the Gratitude Project Works:

• Reflect on your life and identify someone who made a huge impact on you (even if you didn’t realize it at the time).
• If possible, this should be someone who has been out of your active life for some time
• Locate this person
• Give a call, write a letter, send an e-mail
• Express your gratitude and tell them where you are today

If you’d like, feel free to send me a message with your Gratitude Project Story. I’ll post them here at Aha-Moments.

I’ll begin with my own Gratitude Project Story.