Once when Erickson was lecturing in a small town in the south-central United States, a fellow lecturer asked him to stop by and see his celibate aunt. The colleague said, “My aunt lives alone in an old house with no relatives, she suffers from extreme depression, she is rigid and refuses to change her lifestyle, see if there is anything you can do to make her change?” Erickson visited his colleague’s aunt’s home. The lady was even more lonely than described, locked up alone in a dark and dreary century-old house, with no trace of life around her. Alison was a gentle man. He said politely to his aunt, “Will you let me see your house?” The aunt showed Erickson room after room. Did Erickson really want to see the old house? Not really. He was looking for something! In this old lady’s lifeless environment, he was looking for something that had a breath of life. Finally, on the windowsill of one room, he found a few tiny pots of African violets – the only living plants in the house. My aunt said, “I don’t have anything to do, but I like to take care of these little pots, and this one is starting to bloom.” Erickson said, “Great! Your flowers are so beautiful, they must bring joy to many people. Can you ask around the city what family has a happy event, a wedding, a baby or a birthday or whatever, and send them a pot of flowers, they will be overjoyed.” The aunt really did what Erickson said and planted African violets in large quantities, and almost everyone in town benefited from them at one time or another. Needless to say, the aunt’s life changed dramatically. The old house, which had been impervious to light, became sunny and full of small, brightly colored violets. Once a lonely and unsupported aunt, she became the most popular person in the city. When she died, the local newspaper headlined the city’s loss of our African violet queen. Nearly the entire city went to mourn her loss in return for her generosity during her life. This is a true story of a conversation Erickson had with his aunt back then, and I was not personally present to confirm whether they talked that way. But a single visit from Erikson put a change in the rest of this wife’s life. A few light words have the power of a thousand armies, no wonder he was a distinguished master of his generation.