Amazing Guidance

From: Sandy Justice Lepley (sjfahey1@aol.com)
Story type: Angel
Location: Washington, D.C.
Source: Form Submission
Date submitted: Mon Jul 12 15:44:40 2010

I still often recall the amazing guidance I received soon after my mother died of Lupus Disease in August, 1952. I was just 5 years old, and my younger sister was just 3. We were left with an inattentive, mourning family upon our mother's death. I would stare in the mirror and call for "Mama". Then I walked outside into the back alley of our grandmother's row house in the late afternoon, and happened to see my shadow stretch long on the cement. Suddenly I wondered what would become of my sister and I, and what I would do as an adult in the world. We had been living in Washington DC where there was frequent talk of the Korean conflict and presidential campaign. I remember wondering that day why there were so many people arguing in the world around me.

Then strangely, I heard some one talking to me in a man's voice. I could hear the voice but no one was there. The voice said that when I grow up I will be able to help people resolve their problems between them, and help them understand one another better. I remember saying, "But I am just a girl". The voice said that I would be able to do it anyway. I asked, "How am I going to help people stop arguing?" The voice taught me to be a mediator. It actually said, "First you listen to one person, or one member of a group, and then you repeat what they said to the opposing person or member of the opposing group, except that you re-word it in a nicer way. Then you listen to the response, and you repeat it to the first person/group in a nice (diplomatic) way. You continue this process until both sides reach an agreement or understand one another." At that point the voice paused, and then said, "And never forget what it's like to be a child in this situation". Then I asked, "How am I going to remember this until I grow up?" The voice replied, "You are going to repeat all of this to yourself every day until you grow up." That was the end of the "amazing guidance" session.

I repeated this 'amazing guidance' to myself every day, and went directly from high school to college, and then to graduate school. I majored in Psychology and Guidance/Counseling. The internship I assigned was at an elementary school. During my internship, the supervising guidance counselor announced to me that she was going to retire and recommend me for the position. The principal hired me, and I became a guidance counselor though I was only 23 years old. I became involved with Parent Effectiveness Training and worked with families in their homes. Later I worked at a middle school, and then for 4 years as a health system planner, organizing and staffing large committees of health professionals as they developed goals and objectives for the regional health care system. Then I received a graduate assistantship for an MBA Degree in Health Administration. As a result of the two masters degrees, I became the Director of Admissions and Records at Edison College, a school with several allied health care programs, where I had received my AA Degere. There, a Korean student approached me in 1986 and said that we needed an International Student Club and that I should be the advisor. I served in that roll for 10 years, and fulfilled my dream of becoming a foreign diplomat without having to travel far from home. In 2001, after the Columbine High School shooting, I returned to school for a Doctorate in Educational Leadership. Today, I am the School Counselor and Asst Administrator at a public charter high school for 'at risk' students. I work with troubled teens, their teachers, and their parents. This summer I will be 62 years old and I have no plans of retiring. On a part time basis I work as a real estate broker associate where I use my mediating skills to negotiate real estate transactions.

Following the 'Amazing Guidance' has been comforting and rewarding throughout life.