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John Dye was born
fifty years ago on January 31st, 1963. We would
like to celebrate his life, in which he gave so much
time and care to others, by spending our time helping
those in our communities and throughout the world.
Our goal is to, collectively, spend 50 hours this month
paying it forward for John. One hour for every
year since John's birth. We hope you'll join us in
this special endeavor!
If you would like to share how you're contributing your
time to paying it forward in John's memory; we'd love to
hear from you at admin@payitforwardinmemoryofjohndye.net.
Additionally, if you would
like to write a tribute for John in honor of the
50 years since his birth we will also include
those here. Thank you very much to those who have
already contributed and are paying it forward for John
and for their communities! Happy birthday, John!
50 Hours for 50
year RAOK Count
In honor of the 50
years since John's birth, we're
asking folks to (as a group) perform
50 hours of paying it forward.
You can chart our progress along
with us below. The more
colorful the chart gets, the closer
we are to our goal. We hope
you'll join us! Click here
to read more about our goal!
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We made and exceeded our goal as of
January 27th! We're still
counting, though, in honor of all
the years to come in which we will
continue to be touched and inspired
by John's compassion. Thank
you to those helping us celebrate
John's life in this way!
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Random Acts of
Kindness in Honor of John's 50th Birthday
From anonymous:
On honor of John's birthday I spent this morning donating
blood platelets. In the afternoon I baked several batches of
cookies (chocolate chip--sorry, John...) and in the evening
brought them to the site where my friend Amber feeds homeless
and working poor people four nights a week, to round out the
meal, We probably served 200 people tonight, with a great
group of volunteers. The guests light up when you ask if
they'd like a cookie. :) Since I've seen several people there
with dogs I bring some zippered bags of dog food as well so
the pups can have a healthy meal too. Interestingly, I learned
that tonight was Amber's birthday as well. There must be
something in those stars... John's presence in this world has
left me a little kinder, a little more mindful of simple
things I can do to lift someone's spirits or make their load a
little lighter. May I find more opportunities in the coming
year. God Bless you, John.
From Joëlle:
I just at the
moment as a donation to the Make-a-wish Foundation
USA and to the St-Andrew's United Methodist Church
on the birthday of John. I wish you a very good day.
From Suzanne:
By the end of the month you can add another 8 hours
to the birthday 50 hours RAOK. I spend 2 hours each
Sunday playing chess and losing terribly might add
lol with my elderly neighbour who's alone. I have
two hours this Sunday which will make 8 hours by the
end of the month. Thanks.
From
Anonymous:
I babysat for a couple so they could have Date
Night. I had the children for 3 hours. It was fun
hanging out with just the kids for a change.
From Donna:
I volunteered for two hours at our local food
pantry.
Update: Please record two more hours for the two
that I volunteered at the Food Pantry this
morning.
From
Cindy:
I am making cards this month to send as encouragement
to others, and also to donate to generate money for
the needy in my community. It takes about ten minutes
to cut, stamp, and assemble each card. I made 12 this
week, so that is 2 hours. Update: I spent 3 more
hours making cards.
From Jennifer:
My sorority and I are making hats for cancer patients
through an organization called head huggers. We had set
a goal of 150 hats for the whole sorority and it was
announced recently that we are half way there.
Personally, my mom and I made 11 hats and it takes us
about 2 to 3 hours to make one. I love giving back and I
hopes this helps!!
Update: I just like to update you on my sorority
project of giving caps,(or hats); to cancer patients. We
had just completed the project and my mom and I
officially got 14 hats done! It took 3 hours to
complete, so the total time that we spent was: 42 hours
of hat making. I think we did 15 or 20 hours in January
alone. Thank you for your support and featuring me and
my sorority project on the website!!
From Jenni:
I spent 3 hours making PIF angels. I'm going to be
visiting some places I haven't been so look forward to
dropping them in new places for new people to hopefully
find and be encouraged by. I've also started
making bookmarks which is something I did in high scho
ol and not since. My mom works in
a library so I'm going to give them to her to give to
her kids. Thus far I've made five of them at an
hour a piece. I'm hoping to speed up on them so I can get more done!
Update: I'm still working on bookmarks for my mom's
students (11 more hours!). I did have a chance to use a
couple of my PIF angels directly. Usually I just leave them around but
every so often I hand them to people. On this
occasion, I met a lady who had learned a family member was
dying. I gave her two angels, one for her and another
for the family member. I almost didn't put any in my
purse that day cause I didn't have much room but am so glad
I did as she said how much the angels meant to her. So
I think that illustrates just how meaningful it can be to do
something as simple as have a lil craft item or even a
nicely printed card reading "You are loved" or "You're being
prayed for" or " God loves you!" to give to folks. I'm
grateful that I had this opportunity and to John for being
the inspiration for the angels cause approaching strangers
is not something I (introvert all the way!) would usually do
but having them has forced me to and I'm glad of that.
I'm praying the lady got home in time, too. I left
some other angels in Orlando, FL which I visited last
week. That was fun!
Update 2: I spent another 18 hours on bookmarks and blankets
over the past few days. Tonight, John's birthday, I
made one blanket (while watching TBAA, of course!) and cut
out fleece for a few more that I look forward to making in
February. Happy birthday to John!
John's 50th Birthday
Tributes
From Linda:
Happy Birthday wishes to a truly beautiful
man. Heaven is blessed with your presence. Peace
and Love to you John.
Every year (especially around
notable birthdays of which John’s 50th is
definitely one!) I seem to fixate on a symbol
that I feel represents life. This past year,
I've been thinking about life as a quilt made up
of all sorts of random blocks of fabric and
lengths of thread that together form something
truly beautiful, useful, and comforting. If life
really were a quilt, I know that for many of us
the threads that were John's life and work would
be sewn into many, many blocks of our quilts.
For me, he would be one of the strands of gold
interspersed through black patches of grief. So
often when those I loved passed away, I thought
of John's work as Andrew. I carried his "On one
side there’s life..." quote with me to funerals
until eventually it was so much a part of me
that a scrap of paper was unnecessary. John
would also be bright scraps of yellow...
Converse Chuck Taylor Yellow specifically...
reminding me that it's important not to take
life too seriously, to have fun with friends, to
never let dreams die, and, very importantly, to
NEVER make deals with people who have "Cactus"
in their names. (Noted.) He would be slips of
red and black, forever representing the need to
love people... our children especially... as
they are and to not judge or turn our backs on
them simply because they aren’t who we wanted
them to be. But mostly John would be bright
green patches made of the most durable fabrics.
Those would be the blocks that would remind me
that just as John lived his life so often
reaching out to others in need whether feeding
the homeless or offering an encouraging word to
someone grieving or speaking out about
injustice, so should we live our lives that way.
God gave us this wonderful, beautiful, scary,
awesome, crazy world and He gave us each other,
too. John spent his life touching that world and
those of us blessed to share it with him. I hope
that on this, his 50th birthday, and on all days
John knows that he made so many of us much more
vibrant, sturdy, and gentle and that, in his
memory, we will continue to touch this world and
those who walk it with us. Happy birthday, John!
Always,
Jenni
From Pam:
Happy Birthday, John! You touched so many lives in
the 47 years you were on this earth! You are
missed!
From Donna:
Birthday wishes for a true angel , keep shining
on us all x
From Annie:
Happy Birthday John! You are and will forever be
our ''Angel Boy!'' I know that both you and your
mother are watching over me, as well as all of us,
and that comforts me more than you will ever know.
Your portrayal of ''Andrew'' has touched my life
in SO many ways that I can't even begin to explain
it! I hope that you're having the happiest of
birthday's with God and your mother! We love you!
From Joëlle:
John, I wish you a happy birthday, I wish so
much that you may celebrate your 50th
anniversary with your family and your friends.
Unfortunately God has decided otherwise, but you
will celebrate with your mum. You taught me so
many thing for years, every day I do my best so
that you would be proud of me. Miss me you so
much. You will forever remain in my heart. JTM
From Donna Lea:
Happy Birthday, John. Our gift to you is to ensure
that your legacy of love and compassion lives on.
Have a joyous celebration in Heaven.
Dear John,
I remembered in an interview once someone
asked what your favorite Bible verse was and you
said 1 Corinthians 13...not just a verse, an entire
passage ~ a passage about love, or in some
translations, charity. I always thought it was
interesting that the word love was interchangeable
with the word charity. I came across a quote by Amy
Carmichael which says, "You can give without loving,
but you cannot love without giving." Ah, that does
make sense and with what I know about you, it was
how you conducted yourself. You continue to
offer faith, hope and love. You are my standard.
Happy 50th Birthday, John.
I love you,
Cindy
1 Corinthians 13
Common English Bible (CEB)
Love: the universal spiritual gift
13 If I speak in tongues of human beings and of
angels but I don’t have love, I’m a clanging gong or
a clashing cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy
and I know all the mysteries and everything else,
and if I have such complete faith that I can move
mountains but I don’t have love, I’m nothing. 3 If I
give away everything that I have and hand over my
own body to feel good about what I’ve done but I
don’t have love, I receive no benefit whatsoever.
4 Love is patient, love is kind, it isn’t jealous,
it doesn’t brag, it isn’t arrogant, 5 it isn’t rude,
it doesn’t seek its own advantage, it isn’t
irritable, it doesn’t keep a record of complaints, 6
it isn’t happy with injustice, but it is happy with
the truth. 7 Love puts up with all things, trusts in
all things, hopes for all things, endures all
things.
8 Love never fails. As for prophecies, they will be
brought to an end. As for tongues, they will stop.
As for knowledge, it will be brought to an end. 9 We
know in part and we prophesy in part; 10 but when
the perfect comes, what is partial will be brought
to an end. 11 When I was a child, I used to speak
like a child, reason like a child, think like a
child. But now that I have become a man, I’ve put an
end to childish things. 12 Now we see a reflection
in a mirror; then we will see face-to-face. Now I
know partially, but then I will know completely in
the same way that I have been completely known. 13
Now faith, hope, and love remain—these three
things—and the greatest of these is love.
From Jeni:
To John, you are my inspiration in being a better
person. I had watched you on Touched By An Angel since
I was a really little girl and I grew up loving your
character Andrew, but best of all appreciating you as
a person. I have really wished I had met you or even
had gotten your autograph. But here I can let you know
that you had bring joy and inspiration into my heart
to help others in need. Thank you for giving your
family, friends, and fans 47 great years with you.
Happy 50th Birthday!!! I hope you enjoy your birthday
with your mom in heaven!!! ♥
From Natasha:
Natasha Wright Happy 50th Birthday John, even though
I liked all the characters in Touched By an Angel, I
must admit you were my favourite. When my baby boy
Michael went to heaven nearly 5 years ago I often
call him my Angel Boy like Tess called your
character in the show. I have learnt alot over the
years from your character Andrew and the others and
as I watch the show over and over I am still
learning. So I hope you have a heavenly birthday.
Best wishes 0:-) ♥
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