"It makes a difference to this one..."

 One of Mom's favorite moments while visiting Hope in Beijing was when she stood in front of the starfish wall and after once again reading the poem she has become so familiar with, she looked for and found what she refers to as "my girls"...
  The poem reads:
One day an old man was walking down the beach just before dawn.  In the distance he saw a young man picking up stranded starfish and throwing them back into the sea.  As the old man approached the young man, he asked, "Why do you spend so much energy doing what seems to be a waste of time?"  The young man explained that the stranded starfish would die if left in the morning sun.  The old man exclaimed, "But there must be thousands of starfish.  How can your efforts make any difference?"  

The young man looked down at the starfish in his hand and as he threw it to safety in the sea, he said," It makes a difference to this one!"