The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.

The Impact On Other's Lives

by Dessa Rodeffer
Quill Editor/Publisher

21 March 2001

The impact you can have on another person's life is unsuspecting at times. In fact, I think many of us feel we have absolutely no significance in another's life.

We might even think we can go about doing "our own thing" without it being anyone's business or without influencing anyone else.

It might be surprising to find we've actually impacted a person in a positive way.

In the musical "Grease," a decent upright girl named Sandy, was influenced in just the opposite way. The pressures of the "popular" crowd made Danny not be himself in front of her, and it made her join the influences of the drinking, smoking crowd to gain his and their acceptance.

How her future ended we do not know, for the story ends. But, the popular musical makes one think of how we can be influenced by the ones who are around us.

I'm sure you find it in the gas stations, the restaurants, the beauty parlors, even clubs and church groups.

But in our community, it is amazing how many graduates from our high schools have gone on to influence the world in a positive way.

The best part about the Quill newspapers are the stories of our subscribers who were area graduates, now living elsewhere, but making a positive impact in other people's lives there.

I read the news clipping about a 69-year-old retired salesman, Wayne McGaha, who finally saw his dream come true, thanks to a former Northwestern graduate, Darel DeCounter. The South Carolina senior citizen said he couldn't sing a lyric but he could write them as a hobby.

He sought DeCounter's help after his wife encouraged him to put some of his lyrics on a demo tape so others could enjoy them. McGaha said DeCounter showed him the ins and outs of the recording business with the result several months ago, making the No. 1 country song on the charts in Munich, Germany. His song title "When Will I Get Over You?" is the first track on a 23-song CD titled "Only You." The CD is a showcase of up-and-coming songwriters performed by up-and-coming musicians and has received particularly good success in Germany, Australia and Sweden.

Talking to DeCounter on the phone this week gave me great pleasure. His wife was a former next door neighbor of mine, Kathy Corzatt.

There are so many stories of our grown children impacting the world: stories, I need to do but haven't had time: of doctors, singers, pilots, businessmen, adoptive parents, truckers, policemen, warehouse operators. I hope family members or friends will send us their stories. It will encourage us knowing our community might have been the positive impact in their lives.