I hope, during the course of my life, I will have made a difference.

And I don’t mean making a difference with dollars. That is all good and fine and I would gladly share my millions if I ever were to win the lottery.What I am talking about are the little things; the everyday things you may not even realize you do that will have an impact on someone.

I think on some level those types of impressions are the game-changers.

Take for instance my elementary school teacher Mrs. Rickles. She probably had no idea what impact she had on me when she complemented me on my smile.

Back in the fifth grade all us girls had autograph books. You know the books where you get “famous” people to sign their names. Well, seeing as we didn’t have anyone famous at Jett Elementary, we just passed the books around amongst our friends and teachers to sign. Some just wrote their names in the books, while others would write a message.

Mrs. Rickles did that later and in doing so ended her message with a P.S. “Keep smiling — it’s one of the things I’ll remember most about you.”

For a little girl who had a terrible overbite that would eventually have to be corrected with years of braces, that message made my confidence soar. And those words have stayed with me to this day.

Also, making a difference in my life was a special man.

After being diagnosed with scoliosis — curvature of the spine — and being relegated to wearing a gosh-awful Milwaukee brace — or more accurately a contraption that made me feel so very ugly, I began receiving little gifts with the card attached reading “From your secret friend.”

I had no idea who was sending me these gifts, but I did know that each and every time one arrived my day would brighten.

One of the gifts I was sent was a beautiful necklace with a pendant attached and inside the pendant was a mustard seed.

Many of you are probably familiar with the Bible verse found in Matthew 17:20 where Jesus says if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed you can move mountains.

Well mountains are surely what I needed moving during that challenging time in my life, so needless to say, I cherished this piece of jewelry — so much so that I still have it.

As the gifts continued to arrive so too did my curiosity grow. In fact, I would sit down with my mom and try to go over every person I thought it could be until one day, finally, the secret was revealed.

My secret friend was Hugh Green.

Hugh was a very dear and close friend of my parents. In fact, his wife JoAnn had been my mom’s best friend, meaning Hugh was well aware of my struggles and sadness from having to wear the brace. So, I guess he thought by sending me these little gifts anonymously it could help cheer me up. He was right. They did.

This week, Hugh went on to be with JoAnn, a moment in heaven that must have been glorious. But just so everyone knows, he didn’t leave earth before making a difference and I was one of the recipients.

Terri Cowart Frazier writes features for The Vicksburg Post. She can be reached at terri.frazier@vicksburgpost.com.