THE KIND OF PERSON I WANT TO BE

I SEE SO MANY PEOPLE THAT ARE "ALL ABOUT ME" AND THIS STORY REMINDED ME THAT I REALLY DON'T WANT TO BE ONE OF THEM.

A nurse took the tired, anxious serviceman to the bedside.

"Your son is here," she said to the old man.

She had to repeat the words several times before the patient's eyes opened.

Heavily sedated because of the pain of his heart attack, he dimly saw the young uniformed Marine standing outside the oxygen tent. He reached out his hand. The Marine wrapped his toughened fingers around the old man's limp ones, squeezing a message of love and encouragement.

The nurse brought a chair so that the Marine could sit beside the bed. All through the night the young Marine sat there in the poorly lighted ward, holding the old man's hand and offering him words of love and strength. occasionally, the nurse suggested that the Marine move away and rest awhile.

He refused.

Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the Marine was oblivious of her and of the night noises of the hospital - the clanking of the oxygen tank, the laughter of the night staff members exchanging greetings, the cries and moans of the other patients. Now and then she heard him say a few gentle words. The dying man said nothing, only held tightly to his son all through the night.

Along towards dawn, the old man died. The Marine released the now lifeless hand he had been holding and went to tell the nurse. While she did what she had to do, he waited.

Finally, she returned. She started to offer words of sympathy, but the Marine interrupted her.

"Who was that man?" he asked. The nurse was startled, "He was your father," she answered.

"No, he wasn't," the Marine replied. "I never saw him before in my life."

"Then why didn't you say something when I took you to him?"

"I knew right away there had been a mistake, but I also knew he needed his son, and his son just wasn't here. When I realized that he was too sick to tell whether or not I was his son, knowing how much he needed me, I stayed."

The next time someone needs you ... just be there. Stay.

WE ARE NOT HUMAN BEINGS GOING THROUGH A TEMPORARY SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE.

WE ARE SPIRITUAL BEINGS GOING THROUGH A TEMPORARY HUMAN EXPERIENCE.

ANGELS IN MY LIFE

I have been so blessed with a wonderful husband but I got this email from a girlfriend in
Canada today and I thought of so many others in my life that this would fit.

Time passes.  Life happens.  Distance separates. Children grow up.  Jobs come and go.
Love waxes and wanes.  People don't do what they're supposed to do.  Hearts break.
Parents die. Colleagues forget favors.  Careers end.
BUT - Sisters are there, no matter how much time and how many miles are between you.
A girlfriend is never farther away than needing her.
When you have to walk that lonesome valley and you have to walk it by yourself,
the women in your life will be on the valley's rim, cheering
you on, praying for you, pulling for you, intervening on your behalf,  and waiting with open
arms at the valley's end.
Sometimes, they will even break the rules and walk beside you, or come in and carry you
out.
Girlfriends, daughters, granddaughters, daughters-in-law, sisters,  sisters-in-law, mothers,
grandmothers, aunties, nieces, cousins and extended family all bless our life.
When we began this adventure called womanhood, we had no idea of the  incredible joys
or sorrows that lay ahead, nor did we know how much we would need each other.

Every day, we need each other still.

ANOTHER CHILD LEAVES HOME

Well I just wanted to update you all on Doby the Lanai Lizard. Dave finally convinced me that he was getting skinny so last night I got Dave to capture Doby and take him to the shrubs and give him his freedom.

This morning I walked out to check his spot where he suns every morning and he ofcouse wasn't there but there were a few tiny little bugs crawling around. It's too late now but, I think he did have a food source inside the screen after all. Oh well, they all have to grow up and move on sometime. :-)

As you can tell not much is happening to report on. We did go to a dinner at church last night and learned some interesting stories about when our preacher was a kid.

Have a nice weekend...

Happy St. Patricks Day!

FUN AT DISNEY

I enjoyed a cup of coffee with Micky, it was the beginning of a very long day. We started our day at MGM when the parks opened and ended at The Magic Kingdom at midnight. That's a long day for a Granny but we did have FUN!

BACK TO ORLANDO

When we got back to Orland there were many reminders of our first visit. We didn't eat at Barber King, as Anna renamed it but we did think of her everytime we drove by this business. Anna, I still think it is orange but I don't think I can convince you. It made us laugh just thinking about that conversation.

PETTING THE TIGERS

I was looking over the the Thailand 2007 pictures while I had some down time at work and found this one. I really am not sure why I didn't see it before but I just had to put it on my desktop. My first thought was that it must not be a live animal. Then I thought, it looks real.
If it is I wondered WHAT WERE THEY THINKING LETTING HER IN THERE!!!

Look at that happy little face...real or not she's loving it.

LAST WEEK / THIS COMING WEEK

To recap last week...two of my very dear (younger than me) friends had birthdays. Sarah Chadha, who just got back from India so I talked to her but haven't seen her yet and Cheryl Zager, who I went to dinner with last night. We went to Alexander's in Naples. It was wonderful. Her sister Lori, Lori's husband Dave, Michelle, David and I all had a very good time and a delicious dinner.

Today after church we went up to our pool for a cookout/garage sale. They had raffles (which I didn't win), bake sale (where I bought baklava, strudel, and pastries) and the garage sale (I purchased a few books, tapes, rugs, and a silk tree).

Friends from Canada got in this afternoon and then Dave and I took our neighbors car to airport for them so when they arrive at midnight we don't have to pick them up.

Next week seems to be just as busy. Work: Mon - Wed. Leave for Orlando after work on Wed, spend two days at the Disney parks and come back Saturday in time to have a little get together with neighbors that we haven't been able to get together with all winter.

A NEW FONDNESS FOR OREGON

I have never thought much about Oregon. A couple that lives in my building are from Portland and they spend about six months a year there but until last month that was about my only connection.

Last month Tom went out to Portland with an address Matt used when he got an ID card and found him. He is well, working and this was a wonderful answer to our prayers. He caught him up on family news (Sue is remarried, Helen died, Rob moved to TX, Elizabeth is expecting) and told him that we all loved him and were very concerned.

Last week I got a copy of a story and a picture of a family that was published Sept. 25, 1975. The family was part of the first group of Cambodian refuges. My friend Mimi was the youngest of the six children and she was only six years old.

Mimi had told me her story and about the article. She said that they had a copy of it for years but it had been lost during one of their many moves. I decided to try to get a copy for her and after about a month it came in the mail. She was so happy!

This is Mimi and her husband Bruce.