THANKFUL FOR THE LOVE OF BROTHERS AND SISTERS

 

Today I’m thankful for the love between brothers and sisters

and for something they’ve always known…

How, when problems arise in their lives

they never have to face them alone.

A STORY OF LOVE

 

Love is not blind but because of it’s unpredictability and it’s elusiveness

It can, at times, be a little difficult to see.

Other times, however, it is as palpable as can be

We can feel it in our heart, in our mind, in our body…and it is obvious to see.

An old story I bring to you today and using the criteria from above

See if you can tell the exact moment it becomes a story of love…

Mary and Johnny were sister and brother. 

Mary was sick and the doctors came to the conclusion…

the only thing that would save her life…would be a blood transfusion.

Since his blood was a match the doctor approached Johnny saying,

“Johnny, I know this is a little scary…but in order to save your sister…

would you give your blood to Mary?”

Johnny hesitated for a moment whispering to himself, “I know it will be scary.”

then he sighed and said, “Yes, doctor…I will give my blood to Mary.”

 

As the nurse inserted the needle into Johnny’s arm he whispered to himself,

“This is when it gets a little scary.”

only to feel his fear subside knowing he was helping Mary.

After a little while the doctor noticed a tear form in Johnny’s eye…

when he asked Johnny what was wrong 

Johnny answered, “Doctor, when exactly will I die?”

The doctor leaned over…and with a tear in his eye…

He said, Johnny you don’t have to worry…you’re not going to die.”

“Because you gave some of your blood to Mary…you both are going to live!”

But no-one in the room that day will ever forget…the gift Johnny was willing to give.

I believe we could all use more stories of love in our life…

Not only for the warm feeling in our hearts these stories create…

But also…when a heart is filled with love…

there is no room in there for hate.

WE ARE THE PILOTS

  May we be blessed to understand 

(whether or not we find it in a rhyme)

one basic truth, 

one basic fact

one basic principle of time

If you give me but a moment 

I’ll try my utmost to explain:

It’s remembering as time flies by so quickly…

we are the pilots of our plane.

8 MINUTES

 

8 minutes!

Doesn’t seem like much time does it.

It’s .8% of the time each day we are awake.

But 8 minutes in some cases…could be all the time it takes.

I heard a man tell a story about a dear friend of his

who told him about a time she felt lost and all alone

and how difficult it was for her to suffer through this time on her own.

 

The man said to his friend, “I’m sorry you went through such misery…

but I would have been there if you called….why didn’t you contact me?

She said, “I did contact you…check your phone…

It was last Tuesday…around noon.”

When he checked his phone…there was her message:

‘We should get together soon.’

He said, “This is the message you send me all the time.

How could I have guessed…

this message, the same as all the others…was different from the rest?”

Then he told her about an article he’d read a while back…

about how, when a person is struggling 

8 minutes of support is all they need to get themselves back on track.

So then and there they decided…if either sees this message

‘Do you have 8 minutes?’

on their phones or computer screens…

there will be no confusion…they’ll know exactly what it means.

I love this idea…

So from now on if I get a message from you that reads

‘Do you have 8 minutes?’

I’ll call you right back…they’ll be no reason to explain…

And if you get a message from me that reads

‘Do you have 8 minutes?’

I hope you’ll do the same.

BLESSED WITH 1000 SMILES

 

May you be blessed…

wherever you go…

the older and older you grow…

that 1000 smiles 

accompany every mile

and at least one twinkle 

finds its way into every wrinkle.

TWO OLD OPTIMISTS

 

Deborah and I feel blessed to be optimists…

to be able to find a bright spot in every day.

Blessed because we have never had to work on this…

we were both lucky to be born this way.

For instance: the realist in us knows we’ve reached a point as we grow older every year

where our eyesight fades a little more and it’s a little harder for us to hear.

But as optimists these two things have never bothered neither Deborah nor me…

It tends to make us look at life a little closer at life and listen a little more carefully.

The realist in us knows we've slowed down…we tire more easily

we are no longer that young energetic maiden or that young and vibrant chap…

but as optimists we find solace in our new rhythm…and comfort in a nap.

The realist in us knows we forget things more often now…much more than we use to…

But as optimists we realize this also makes so many things seem brand new. 

The realist in us sees this old couple

whose body parts don’t work as good as they did when we were small….

but as optimists we’re constantly amazed 

we have any body parts that work at all.

Yes, we’ve blessed with the ability to find the happiness inherent in every day

and looking back… as two old optimists…

we wouldn’t have wanted our lives to be…

any other way

ONCE AGAIN GRATEFUL FOR GRATITUDE

 

Today, once again, I’m grateful for gratitude….

Sometimes I think gratitude is the greatest quality of all….

For it has the ability to sweeten every moment….

From the largest ones in our life

down to the tiny and the small.

ONCE AGAIN GRATEFUL FOR GRATITUDE

 

Today, once again, I’m grateful for gratitude….

Sometimes I think gratitude is the greatest quality of all….

For it has the ability to sweeten every moment….

From the largest ones in our life

down to the tiny and the small.

I HOPE I HAVE BEEN WORTH IT

 

My mom and dad fought in World War 2

They made it home…which is every soldiers aim

I didn’t know them before their war but I imagine they didn’t come back the same.

I had friends who were drafted…and Vietnam is where they fought

some of them made it home…some of them did not.

I have never been to war..never once stood at attention or at ease…

so I can’t imagine the fear in war one feels and horrors in a war one sees.

When I see someone who is fighting or has fought in war

I want to let them know I’m grateful…but I’m always a little nervous

I don’t want to put them on the spot..

So I usually say, “Thank you for your service.”

But, ‘thank you for your service’ never seems to be enough

and I’m sure they’ve heard this sentiment a thousand times before…

so I’ve always wished I could come up with a little something more

Until today when I heard a man in the store addressing

a veteran with what I hope is the perfect form of blessing:

He said to the veteran…thank you for your service…

which, as I said, in most cases would suffice…

but then he added I want you to know I try my best to be worth your sacrifice. 

So I hope I have the courage each time I see a veteran

to take this man’s sentiment…and every time rebirth it….

To thank him or her for their service…

then look them in the eye and say

I hope I have been worth it.

THANKFUL TO HAVE SO MANY HEROES

 

Today I’m blessed to have a host of heroes in my life.

A long line of heroes I hope will never end

I find them in the strength, 

the courage 

the support

and the love 

of my family… 

and my friends. 

NOT TOO HARD TO FIND

 

I’ve heard people say heroes are getting harder and harder to find

You may call me idealistic

But I find that message to be too gloomy, too dark and much too pessimistic.

 

I found my first heroes in Fairy Tales

I admired their courage, their integrity…their power…

They were the ones unafraid to face the dragons…to save the princesses in the tower.

My next heroes were sports figures…which made it a lot of fun

They passed for the winning touchdown, shot the winning basket

or scored the winning run.

Next, I found my heroes in the pages of books about history…

Their names were Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin and John F. Kennedy.

But when I learned more about my heroes…I was astounded by what I found

Abe couldn’t control his children, Ben abandoned his family

and Johnny fooled around.

One day I realized to find my heroes…I didn’t have to look very far…

My dad was a postal worker and my mom…a nurse in an ER.

These are the people who loved me…whose inspiration and guidance I sought

which, to me, was more important than if they slew any dragon or not.

I found my heroes didn’t have to save the entire world or make the winning score…

they could be a nurse and a postal worker who lived on the other side of my front door. 

Yes, I’m proud to profess in the final stanzas of this now lengthy rhyme

The heroes I once went looking for…had been with me all the time.

To those who say heroes are harder to find…I say…not in my book

because the keys to finding heroes…is knowing where to look.