Things to Always Remember...
I know I have read this before and maybe forwarded from someone else, but they are such good words to live by, and always good to reread. Enjoy.
Dana

If you will take the time to read this, I promise you'll come away with an enlightened perspective. The subjects covered affect us all on a daily
basis! They're written by Andy Rooney, a man who has the gift of saying so much with so few words. Enjoy!

• I've learned that the best classroom in the world is at the feet of an elderly person.
• I've learned that when you're in love, it shows.
• I've learned that just one person saying to me, "You've made my day!" makes my day.
• I've learned that having a child fall asleep in your arms is one of the most peaceful feelings in the world.
• I've learned that being kind is more important than being right.
• I've learned that you should never say no to a gift from a child.
• I've learned that I can always pray for someone when I don't have the strength to help him in some other way.
• I've learned that no matter how serious your life requires you to be, everyone needs a friend to act goofy with.
• I've learned that sometimes all a person needs is a hand to hold and a heart to understand.
• I've learned that simple walks with my father around the block on summer nights when I was a child did wonders for me as an adult.
• I've learned that life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes.
• I've learned that we should be glad God doesn't give us everything we ask for.
• I've learned that money doesn't buy class.
• I've learned that it's those small daily happenings that make life so spectacular.
• I've learned that under everyone's hard shell is someone who wants to be appreciated and loved.
• I've learned that the Lord didn't do it all in one day. What makes me think I can?
• I've learned that to ignore the facts does not change the facts.
• I've learned that when you plan to get even with someone, you are only letting that person continue to hurt you.
• I've learned that love, not time, heals all wounds.
• I've learned that the easiest way for me to grow as a person is to surround myself with people smarter than I am.
• I've learned that everyone you meet deserves to be greeted with a smile.
• I've learned that there's nothing sweeter than sleeping with your babies and feeling their breath on your cheeks.
• I've learned that no one is perfect until you fall in love with them.
• I've learned that life is tough, but I'm tougher.
• I've learned that opportunities are never lost; someone will take the ones you miss.
• I've learned that when you harbor bitterness, happiness will dock elsewhere.
• I've learned that I wish I could have told my Mom that I love her one more time before she passed away.
• I've learned that one should keep his words both soft and tender, because tomorrow he may have to eat them.
• I've learned that a smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks.
• I've learned that I can't choose how I feel, but I can choose what I do about it.
• I've learned that when your newly born grandchild holds your little finger in his little fist, that you're hooked for life.
• I've learned that everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you're climbing it.
• I've learned that it is best to give advice in only two circumstances; when it is requested and when it is a life threatening situation.
• I've learned that the less time I have to work with, the more things I get done.
• I've learned that friends are very rare jewels, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear, they share words of praise and they always want to open their hearts to us.

I Wish You Enough...
This is beautiful. Pat

 
Recently, I overheard a father and daughter in their last moments together.  They had announced her departure and standing near the security gate, they hugged and he said, "I love you.  I wish you enough."  She in turn said, "Daddy, our life together has been more than enough.  Your love is all I ever needed.  I wish you enough, too, Daddy." They kissed and she left.  He walked over toward the window where I was seated.  Standing there, I could see he wanted and needed to cry.  I tried not to intrude on his privacy, but he welcomed me in by asking, "Did you ever say good bye to someone knowing it would be forever?" "Yes, I have," I replied. Saying that brought back memories I had of expressing my love and appreciation for all my dad had done for me.  Recognizing that his days were limited, I took the time to tell him face to face how much he meant to me.

 So I knew what this man was experiencing.  "Forgive me for asking, but why is this a forever good bye?" I asked.

"I am old and she lives much too far away.  I have challenges ahead and the reality is, the next trip back would be for my funeral," he said.

"When you were saying good bye I heard you say, 'I wish you enough.'  May I ask what that means?"

He began to smile. "That's a wish that has been handed down from other generations.  My parents used to say it to everyone." He paused for a moment and looked up as if trying to remember it in detail, he smiled even more.

"When we said 'I wish you enough,' we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain them," he continued.  Then, turning toward me, he shared the following as if he were reciting it from memory.
 

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.
I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good bye.

He then began to sob and walked away.

My friend, I wish you enough!
 
 

When I created the heavens and the earth, I spoke them into being.  When I created man, I formed him and breathed life into his nostrils.  But you, woman, I fashioned after I breathed the breath of life into man because your nostrils are too delicate.

I allowed a deep sleep to come over him so I could patiently and perfectly fashion you.  Man was put to sleep so that he could not interfere with the creativity.  From one bone I fashioned you.  I chose the bone that protects man's life.  I chose the rib, which protects his heart and lungs and supports him, as you are meant to do.  Around this one bone I shaped you.  I modeled you.  I created you perfectly and beautifully.  Your characteristics are as the rib, strong yet delicate and fragile.  You provide protection for the most delicate organ in man, his heart.  His heart is the center of his being; his lungs hold the breath of life.  The rib cage will allow itself to be broken before it will allow damage to the heart.

Support man as the rib cage supports the body.  You were not taken from his feet, to be under him, nor were you taken from his head, to be above him.  You were taken from his side, to stand beside him and be held close to his side.

You are my perfect angel.  You are my beautiful little girl.  You have grown to be a splendid woman of excellence, and my eyes fill when I see the virtues in your heart. Your eyes - don't change them.  Your lips how lovely when they part in prayer.  Your nose, so perfect in form, your hands so gentle to touch.  I've caressed your face in your deepest sleep; I've held your heart close to mine.  Of all that lives and breathes, you are the most like me.  Adam walked with me in the cool of the day and yet he was lonely.  He could not see me or touch me.  He could only feel me.  So everything I wanted Adam to share and experience with me, I fashioned in you:  my holiness, my strength, my purity, my love, my protection and support.

You are special because you are the extension of me.  Man represents my image - woman, my emotions. Together, you represent the totality of God.  So man - treat woman well. Love her, respect her, for she is fragile.  In hurting her, you hurt me.  What you do to her, you do to me.  In crushing her, you only damage your own heart, the heart of your Father, and the heart of her Father.

Woman, support man. In humility, show him the power of emotion I have given you.  In gentle quietness show your strength.  In love, show him that you are the rib that protects his inner self.

Did you not know that WOMAN was so special in God's eyes?  Now we really know!
 
 
 

Ode to the Spell Checker!

Eye halve a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.

Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.

As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rite
Its rare lea ever wrong.

Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect awl the weigh
My chequer tolled me sew.

An elderly woman and her little grandson, whose face was sprinkled
with bright freckles, spent the day at the zoo. Lots of children were
waiting in line to get their cheeks painted by a local artist who was
decorating them with tiger paws. "You've got so many freckles, there's
no place to paint!" a girl in the line said to the little fella.

Embarrassed, the little boy dropped his head. His grandmother knelt
down next to him. "I love your freckles. When I was a little girl I
always wanted freckles," she said, while tracing her finger across the
child's cheek. "Freckles are beautiful."

The boy looked up, "Really?"

"Of course," said the grandmother. "Why just name me one thing that's
prettier than freckles."

The little boy thought for a moment, peered intensely into his
grandma's face, and softly whispered, ........  "Wrinkles."

Element Name: WOMANIUM
Symbol: WO
Atomic Weight: (don't even go there)
Physical properties: Generally soft and round in form. Boils at
nothing and may freeze any time. Melts when treated properly. Very
bitter if not used well.
Chemical properties: Very active. Highly unstable. Possesses strong
affinity with gold, silver, platinum, and precious stones. Violent
when left alone. Able to absorb great amounts of exotic food. Turns
slightly green when placed next to a better specimen.
Usage: Highly ornamental. An extremely good catalyst for
dispersion of wealth. Probably the most powerful income reducing
agent known.
Caution: Highly explosive in inexperienced hands!

----------------------------------------------

Element Name: MANIUM
Symbol: XY
Atomic Weight: (180 +/- 50)
Physical properties: Solid at room temperature, but gets bent
out of shape easily. Fairly dense and sometimes flaky. Difficult to
find a pure sample. Due to rust, aging samples are unable to
conduct electricity as easily as young samples.
Chemical properties: Attempts to bond with WO any chance it can
get. Also tends to form strong bonds with itself. Becomes explosive
when mixed with KD (Element: CHILDIUM) for prolonged period
of time. Neutralize by saturating with alcohol.
Usage: None known. Possibly good methane source. Good samples
are able to produce large quantities on command.
Caution: In the absence of WO, this element rapidly decomposes
and begins to smell.

Hello! You have reached the automated answering service of your school. In order to assist you in connecting to the right staff member, please listen to all options before making a selection:

To lie about why your child is absent
Press 1

To make excuses for why your child did not do his work
Press 2

To complain about what we do
Press 3

To cuss out staff members
Press 4

To ask why you didn't get needed information that was already enclosed in your newsletter and several bulletins mailed to you
Press 5

If you want us to raise your child
Press 6

If you want to reach out and touch, slap or hit someone
Press 7

To request another teacher for the third time this year
Press 8

To complain about bus transportation
Press 9

To complain about school lunches
Press 0

If you realize this is the real world and your child must be accountable/responsible for his/her own
behavior, classwork, homework, and that it's not the teachers fault for your child(ren)'s lack of effort
---Hang up and have a nice day!!!

We all know what it's like to get that phone call in the middle of the night.  This night's call was no different.  Jerking up to the ringing summons, I focused on the red, illuminated numbers of my clock.  Midnight!  Panicky thoughts filled my sleep dazed mind as I grabbed the receiver.

"Hello?" My heart pounded, I gripped the phone tighter and eyed my husband, who was now turning to face my side of the bed.

"Mama?"  The voice answered.  I could hardly hear the whisper over the static, but my thoughts immediately went to my daughter.

"Mama, I know it's late but, don't. . . . don't say anything until I finish and before you ask, yes, I have been drinking.  I nearly ran off the road a few miles back and ... and I got so scared.  All I could think about was how it would hurt you if a policeman came to your door and said I'd been killed.  I want to come home.  I know running away was wrong.  I know you've been worried sick and I should have called you days ago, but I was afraid."

I paused and tried to think what to say before I could go on, she continued.  "I'm pregnant, Mama and I know I shouldn't be drinking now especially now -- but I'm scared, Mama.  So scared!" the voice broke again and I bit into my lip, feeling my own eyes full with moisture.

I looked at my husband, who sat silently mouthing, "Who is it?"  I clutched the phone and stared at my husband, seeking guidance.

"I'm here.  I won't hang up," I said into the phone.  "I should have told you, Mama.  I know I should have told you but when we talk, you just keep telling me what I should do.  You read all those pamphlets on how to talk about sex and all, but all you do is talk.  You don't listen to me, you never let me tell you how I feel.  It is as if my feelings aren't important.  Because you're my mother, you think you have all the answers but sometimes I don't need answers.  I just want someone to listen."

"I'm listening," I whispered.

"You know back there on the road, after I got the car under control, I started thinking about the baby and taking care of it.  Then I saw
this phone booth and it was as if I could hear you preaching about how people shouldn't drink and drive.  So, I called a taxi.  I want to come home."

"That's good honey."  I said, relief filling my chest.  My husband came closer, sat down beside me and laced his fingers through mine.  I knew from his touch that he thought I was doing and saying the right thing.

"But, you know, I think I can drive now."

"I know, but do this for your mama, wait for the taxi please."

I listened to the silence, fearing.  When I didn't hear her answer, I bit into my lip and closed my eyes.  Somehow I had to stop her from driving.

"There's the taxi now."  There was a click and then the phone went silent.

Moving from the bed, tears forming in my eyes, I walked out into the hall and went to stand in my 16 year old daughter's room.  The dark silence hung thick.  My husband came from behind, wrapped his arms around me and rested his chin on the top of my head.  I wiped the tears from my cheeks.

"We have to learn to listen," I said to him.  He pulled me around to face him.  "We'll learn. You'll see."  Then he took me in his arms and I buried my head in his shoulder.  I let him hold me for several moments, then I pulled back and stared at the bed.

He studied me for a second and then asked, "Do you think she'll ever know she dialed the wrong number?"  I looked at our sleeping daughter and then back at him.  "Maybe it wasn't such a wrong number."

"Mom, Dad, what are you doing?"  The muffled young voice came from under the covers.  I walked over to my daughter, who now sat up staring into the darkness.  "We're practicing," I answered.

"Practicing what?" she mumbled and laid back on the mattress, her eyes already closed in slumber.  "Listening," I whispered and brushed a hand over her cheek.

.........Author unknown

If a dog were your teacher, you would learn stuff like:

• When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.
• Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride.
• Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy.
• When it's in your best interest, practice obedience.
• Let others know when they've invaded your territory.
• Take naps and stretch before rising.
• Run, romp, and play daily.
• Thrive on attention and let people touch you.
• Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.
• On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass.
• On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.
• When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body.
• No matter how often you're scolded, don't buy into the guilt thing and pout... run right back and make friends.
• Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.
• Eat with gusto and enthusiasm. Stop when you have had enough.
• Be loyal.
• Never pretend to be something you're not.
• If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.
• And MOST of all...
• When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and nuzzle them gently.

The Cost of Children
Is it any wonder that with these rewards I want more kids?!  I have seen repeatedly the breakdown of the cost of raising a child, but this is the first time I have seen the rewards listed this way. It's nice, really nice!   Cyndee

 
The Cost of Children

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140!  That doesn't even touch college tuition.

For those with kids, that figure leads to wild fantasies about all the money we could have banked if not for (insert your child's name here).  For others, that number might confirm the decision to remain childless.

But $160,140 isn't so bad if you break it down.  It translates into $8,896.66 a year, $741.38 a
month, or $171.08 a week.  That's a mere $24.44 a day!  Just over a dollar an hour.

Still, you might think the best financial advice says don't have children if you want to be "rich."  It is just the opposite.

What do your get for your $160,140?

Naming rights. First, middle, and last!

Glimpses of God every day.

Giggles under the covers every night.

More love than your heart can hold.

Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.

Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.

A hand to hold, usually covered with jam.

A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites, building sandcastles, and skipping down the sidewalk in the pouring rain.

Someone to laugh yourself silly with no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.

For $160,140, you never have to grow up.

You get to finger-paint, carve pumpkins, play hide-and-seek, catch lightning bugs, and never stop believing in Santa Claus.

You have an excuse to keep: reading The Adventures of Piglet and Pooh, watching Saturday morning cartoons, going to Disney movies, and wishing on stars.

You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.

For $160,140, there is no greater bang for your buck.

You get to be a hero just for retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof, taking the training wheels off the bike, removing a splinter, filling the wading pool, coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream, regardless.

You get a front row seat to history; to witness the first step, first word, first bra, first date, and first time behind the wheel.

You get to be immortal.

You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren.

You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.

In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there with God.

You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits, so one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost.

ENJOY YOUR KIDS (and grandkids) !!!!!!
 
 

 If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it.
 If He had a wallet, your photo would be in it.
 He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning.
 Whenever you want to talk, He'll listen.
 He could live anywhere in the universe, and He chose your heart.
 What about the Christmas gift He sent you in Bethlehem, not to mention that
         Friday at Calvary.
Face it, He's crazy about you.
I thought this was pretty special, just like you.
Remember:  God answers Knee-Mail.

RULES
Bill Gates recently dished out at a high school speech about 11 things
that he did not learn in school.  He talks about how feel-good,
politically correct teaching has created a full generation of kids with
no concept of reality and how this has set them up for failure in the
real world.

RULE 1

Life is not fair -- get used to it.

RULE 2

The world won't care about your self-esteem.  The world will expect you
to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

RULE 3

You will NOT make 50 thousand dollars a year right out of high school.
You won't be a vice president with a car phone, until you earn both.

RULE 4

If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.  They don't
have tenure.

RULE 5

Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity.  Your grandparents had a
different word for burger flipping -- they called it ......opportunity.

RULE 6

If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your
mistakes, learn from them.

RULE 7

Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now.
They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and
listening to you talk about how cool you are.  So before you save the rain
forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the
closet in your own room.

RULE 8

Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has
not.  In some schools they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you
as many chances as you want to get the right answer.  This doesn't bear
the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

RULE 9

Life is not divided into semesters.  You don't get summers off and very
few employers are interested in helping you find yourself.  Do that on your
own time.

RULE 10

Television is NOT real life.  In real life people actually have to leave
the coffee shop and go to jobs.

RULE 11

Be nice to nerds.  Chances are you'll end up working for one.

The Yellow Shirt
A message of memories!   Dana

The baggy yellow shirt had long sleeves, four extra-large pockets trimmed in black thread and snaps up the front.  It was faded from years of wear, but still in decent shape.  I found it in 1963 when I was home from college on Christmas break, rummaging through bags of clothes Mom intended to give away.  "You're not taking that old thing, are you?" Mom said when she saw me packing the yellow shirt.  "I wore that when I was pregnant with your brother in 1954!"

It's just the thing to wear over my clothes during art class, Mom.  Thanks!"  I slipped it into my suitcase before she could object. The yellow shirt be came a part of my college wardrobe.  I loved it.  After graduation, I wore the shirt the day I moved into my new apartment and on Saturday mornings when I cleaned.

The next year, I married.  When I became pregnant, I wore the yellow shirt during big-belly days.  I missed Mom and the rest of my family, since we were in Colorado and they were in Illinois.

But that shirt helped.  I smiled, remembering that Mother had worn it when she was pregnant, 15 years earlier.

That Christmas, mindful of the warm feelings the shirt had given me, I patched one elbow, wrapped it in holiday paper and sent it to Mom.  When Mom wrote to thank me for her "real" gifts, she said the yellow shirt was lovely.  She never mentioned it again.

The next year, my husband, daughter and I stopped at Mom and Dad's to pick up some furniture.  Days later, when we uncrated the kitchen table, I noticed something yellow taped to its bottom.  The shirt!

And so the pattern was set.

On our next visit home, I secretly placed the shirt under Mom and Dad's mattress.  I don't know how long it took for her to find it, but almost two years passed before I discovered it under the base of our living-room floor lamp.  The yellow shirt was just what I needed now while refinishing furniture.  The walnut stains added character.

In 1975 my husband and I divorced.  With my three children, I prepared to move back to Illinois.

As I packed, a deep depression overtook me. I wondered if I could make it on my own.   I wondered if I would find a job.  I paged through the Bible, looking for comfort.  In Ephesians, I read, "So use every piece of God's armor to resist the enemy whenever he attacks, and when it is all over, you will be standing up."

I tried to picture myself wearing God's armor, but all I saw was the stained yellow shirt.  Slowly, it dawned on me.  Wasn't my mother's love a piece of God's armor?  My courage was renewed.

Unpacking in our new home, I knew I had to get the shirt back to Mother.  The next time I visited her, I tucked it in her bottom dresser drawer.

Meanwhile, I found a good job at a radio station.  A year later I discovered the yellow shirt hidden in a rag bag in my cleaning closet.  Something new had been added.  Embroidered in bright green across the breast pocket were the words "I BELONG TO PAT." 

Not to be outdone, I got out my own embroidery materials and added an apostrophe and seven more letters.  Now the shirt proudly proclaimed, "I BELONG TO PAT'S MOTHER."  But I didn't stop there.  I zig-zagged all the frayed seams, then had a friend mail the shirt in a fancy box to Mom from Arlington, VA.  We enclosed an official looking letter from "The Institute for the Destitute," announcing that she was the recipient of an award for good deeds.  I would have given anything to see Mom's face when she opened the box.  But, of course, she never mentioned it.

Two years later, in 1978, I remarried.  The day of our wedding, Harold and I put our = car in a friend's garage to avoid practical jokers.  After the wedding, while my husband drove us to our honeymoon suite, I reached for a pillow in the car to rest my head.  It felt lumpy.  I unzipped the case and found, wrapped in wedding paper, the yellow shirt.  Inside a pocket was a note: "Read John 14:27-29.  I love you both, Mother." 

That night I paged through the Bible in a hotel room and found the verses:  "I am leaving you with a gift: peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn't fragile like the peace the world gives.  So don't be troubled or afraid.  Remember what I told you: I am going away, but I will come back to you again.  If you really love me, you will be very happy for me, for now I can go to the Father, who is greater than I am. I have told you these things before they happen so that when they do, you will believe in me."

The shirt was Mother's final gift.  She had known for three months that she had terminal Lou Gehrig's disease.  Mother died the following year at age 57. 

I was tempted to send the yellow shirt with her to her grave. But I'm glad I didn't, because it is a vivid reminder of the love-filled game she and I played for 16 years.  Besides, my older daughter is in college now, majoring in art.  And every art student needs a baggy yellow shirt with big pockets.