It’s quite likely I never learned this word, or its use, in my high school or college English classes. However, in a different grammatical form, it pertains to making a difference. My hunch is most of us would hope our lives mattered. We may not verbalize this, and, yet, it might be an unspoken nod to making a difference that we lived.
Columnist Marty Coffin Evans
For some, living a life of service, whether overtly stated or not, becomes one of mattering. Actions here may speak louder than words as we remember those who’ve mattered most to us. During times of loss, whether in an anticipated death or tragic one, we reflect on the difference that person made to us and others. Such would easily be the case with my example of Teri, a 30-year employee at King Soopers who lost her life along with nine others a year ago.
She surmounted limitations early in her life by graduating from high school, buddying with others needing a special kind of support, and holding a job faithfully for decades. While Teri may not have known about mattering to the many she helped, she did. No doubt, the others who died with her that tragic day in March 2021, will have been remembered in Martha Coffin Evans
different ways. Those will be unique to them.
Evidence of Teri’s influence can be seen in various forms. In her own way, she left a legacy for the Golden Buffalo Marching Band students who will receive her scholarship every year, the 10 K named in her honor by Japanese runners who remember her, a Special Olympics license plate designation and more. ARC and Best Buddies provided additional support in her memory.
Ever wonder what our mattering will look like? Hopefully our actions and words will have helped others along their life’s pathway. Martha (Marty) Coffin Evans, Ed.D. is a freelance writer with MACE Associates, LLC. She can be reached at itsmemartee@aol.com