It’s not every day that you get to see the fruits of your labor and learn how you made a difference in someone’s life. Sure, someone starts going to church, and you hope your one-time conversation with them helped lead them there. Or perhaps a friend sought your advice, and their actions appear to mirror what you advised.

We see how we might fit into someone’s story, but we rarely learn how significant a role we actually played. Raquel, a 23-year-old woman, is one of the fortunate. Her story about a little girl she used to babysit made its way around the feeds of Tumblr and Reddit: “When I was 12, I babysat this girl for a few years and she would come to me and show me her art, drag me by my wrists and point at the pieces she’d made during the week.”

Rather than dismissing the young girl’s request, Raquel always took the time to appreciate the artwork at hand. She even made it entertaining by narrating each masterpiece in the voice of a sports announcer. “What form! This coloring level! I haven’t seen such Crayola perfection in a long time. And what exactly is this? Why, Jeff, this is a real risk…it appears she’s created…a monochrome pink canvas…

“I haven’t seen this attempted since winter 1932…and I gotta say, Jeff, it’s absolutely splendid.” Every time Raquel performed the bit, her creative little artist friend would “fall back giggling.” At the end of every night, she’d ask me, “Did you really like it?” ‘And I’d say yes and tell her about something I noticed before tucking her in.”

Raquel received news about the little girl after about 12 years: “She was just accepted into three major art schools.” She addressed a letter to me. Inside was a monochrome pink picture of her when she was younger. ‘Thank you,’ it said, ‘to someone who saw the best in me.'” Raquel’s story proves that you never know how much your words and actions mean to someone else. May it motivate you to go out of your way today for someone in your life.