A heart to serve: A personal reflection on life and influence

My Service Story

By Mia Gaddy

Since I was a kid, I always enjoyed helping people. Whether it was volunteering at my local homeless shelter, spending summers  helping children to learn new things, or serving in my church. I was determined to find a way to be of service to someone else. As I got older, my  passion for helping and advocating for others led to becoming an applied economist and a community researcher. 

I wanted to be a voice for people who looked like me, provide answers to society’s problems, and make research more accessible to the community. This was, in no way, a linear path, and I had many people around me who exemplified service in their own lives who showed me how to give back to others. One of these people was my Uncle Ezra “Tic” Means.

Honoring my Uncle Tic
To my Uncle Tic, service encompassed five things: selflessness, joy, laughter, love, and the act of showing kindness to make someone’s day brighter. As a dedicated Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools bus driver for more than  25 years, he made each child he interacted with feel special and provided a safe space for them to feel seen and heard. For his coworkers, he always made sure he had a smile on his face and a joke ready to make someone laugh. 

This devotion didn’t stop with his job, but spread to every area of his life: in his relationships with family and friends, and in his church. He loved to call and check on people to see how they were doing, and made it his mission to check on someone every single day. As a devoted member of his church, he was committed to serving the needs of the ministry through community outreach, singing in the church choir and praise team, intentional relationship building with others, and wherever else he could lend help.

Whatever role he found himself in on a given day, his presence brought a sense of belonging, warmth, and laughter to everyone he encountered. He gave his all in everything he did, and with every person that was in his life. I am grateful to have seen and experienced this firsthand.

My Uncle Tic displayed many acts of service, and when I think of the memories I share with him it taught me a very valuable lesson that I still hold dear. It taught me that service should not stop with our careers, but extend to who we are, how we treat others, and how we live our lives. 

Uncle Tic’s legacy lives on
Although he is no longer with us, his legacy of service still lives on and inspires me daily in my work as a community researcher. When conducting interviews or analyzing data, I think of the people that we are researching and writing about. Research is a service to the community, and it’s giving back so that we can empower people with information and positively impact their daily lives. I actively train myself to live and work from the perspective of service because I have learned that I must look to serve in everything I do. 

Just like my Uncle Tic did. 

 Invitation to reflect
So today, I invite you to take a moment. Think about someone who has shaped your journey, and let’s honor them. Not just in memory, but in the ways we live, work, and serve. Because the truth is, we do not walk this path alone. We all have someone who has motivated, inspired, and encouraged us to do and be our best. 

So, thank you Uncle Tic for being one of the people in my life who showed me the true heart of service and how I can show up for others in my life and my work.