Why are we so moved by gratitude? (you need to read the details)

A professor and his students organized a so-called ‘Gratitude Night’ where class members would bring a guest who had been important in their lives, but whom they had never properly thanked. The guests were not told about the reason of the event. They were three mothers, two close friends, one roommate, and a younger sister. One student said the following to her mother using a prepared written text and everybody in the room listened:

“How do we value a person? Can we measure her worth like a piece of gold, with the purest 24-karat nugget shining more brightly than the rest? If a person’s inner-worth were this apparent to everyone, I would not need to make this speech. As it is not, I would like to describe the purest soul I know: my mom… You are, however, the most genuine and pure-of-heart person I have ever met…. When complete strangers will call you to talk about the loss of their dearest pet, I am truly taken aback. Each time you speak with a bereaved person, you begin crying yourself, just as if your own pet had died. You provide comfort in a time of great loss for these people. As a child, this confused me, but I realize now that it is simply your genuine heart, reaching out in a time of need…. There is nothing but joy in my heart as I talk about the most wonderful person I know. I can only dream of becoming the pure piece of gold I believe stands before me. It is with the utmost humility that you travel through life, never once asking for thanks, simply hoping along the way people have enjoyed their time with you.”

There was literally not a dry eye in the room as the young woman kept looking at her mother, including the mother herself. (Source: Martin Seligman).

What about your eyes? How moved are you by this text? When I read this a couple of days ago, it left me reeling and thinking for hours.

Is there someone in your life, whom you have never properly thanked?