“You mean more to me than you think.”

I was one of several young people hired to hold signs with messages like the one above at area street corners during June and early July.

The signs were for the “Things You Shouldn’t Wait to Say” campaign, an initiative by Hospice of Cincinnati’s Conversations of a Lifetime TM project. The idea was to encourage the young and healthy to have important discussions with loved ones before it’s too late.

I had doubts. The eight words on that sign were short, simple and modest. Could they really have an impact when strung together and printed on a foam board?

Apparently, yes.

Standing at busy intersections, I held my sign, waving at passersby while displaying an encouraging message and genuine smile.

One morning, as I held the “I can’t imagine life without you” sign, a woman approached me and said, “This morning, my daughter and I were in a verbal dispute while driving past you. I saw your sign, and immediately, we decompressed. ‘Let’s start over,’ I said.”

On another day, my sign read, “I want to make you proud.” A guy parked nearby and walked up to me, asking, “How do you make me proud?”

I said a few things like “I just graduated college,” and then told him about the campaign.

He said, ” I hope I’m making you proud too. I just checked out of heroine rehab after completing the program.” I gave him a high five and a bro hug, telling him I was proud of him and that he was an inspiration.

This made me consider the countless times that I should have spoken up. How many people did I know who needed me to say, “I hope you know how bright you shine, even when you cannot see it,” or “I love you more than you can imagine?”

Then came the horrific news out of Orlando, followed by even more stories of deaths that shocked and saddened us. How many people who had family and friends killed on those days now covet one more opportunity to say, “I love you,” to make things right?

I may not be an expert on love, but I know that at our core we want to love and be loved in return. And we don’t want to pass through life without making sure that our love is felt by all who are important to us, and maybe those we barely know, too.

One morning, a woman walked up to me with the biggest smile. She said, “I saw your sign and thought it was the most brilliant and positive thing I’ve seen all week. I wanted to give you something.” She handed me a silk flower attached to a handwritten note that said, “You shine like a spotlight.”

Another passerby’s comments touched me when she said, “My son asked me what you were doing. I told him, ‘he’s changing the world…one sign at a time.’ So thank you for changing my world.”

I encourage you to do just that. Step out of your comfort zone and say the “things you shouldn’t wait to say.” Thank someone for their friendship; raise your children with words of encouragement and positivity; tell your parents how grateful you are for the things they’ve done.

Change someone’s world with a few simple words, before it’s too late.

Nathan Garbig resides in Wilder, KY, and recently graduated from Northern Kentucky University with a degree in public relations.