Sally jumped up as soon as she saw the surgeon come out of the
operating room.
She said: “How is my little boy? Is he going to be all
right? When can I see him?”
The surgeon said, “I’m sorry. We did all we could, but your boy didn’t make it.”
Sally said, “Why do little children get cancer? Doesn’t God care any more? Where were you, God, when my son needed you?”
The
surgeon asked, “Would you like some time alone with your son? One of
the nurses will be out in a few minutes, before he’s transported to the
university.”
Sally asked the nurse to stay with her while she said
good-bye to son. She ran her fingers lovingly through his thick red
curly hair.
“Would you like a lock of his hair?” the nurse asked.
Sally
nodded yes. The nurse cut a lock of the boy’s hair, put it in a plastic
bag and handed it to Sally. The mother said, “It was Jimmy’s idea to
donate his body to the university for study. He said it might help
somebody else. “I said no at first, but Jimmy said, ‘Mom, I won’t be
using it after I die. Maybe it will help some other little boy spend one
more day with his Mom.” She went on, “My Jimmy had a heart of gold.
Always thinking of someone else. Always wanting to help others if he
could.”
Sally walked out of Children’s mercy Hospital for the last
time, after spending most of the last six months there. She put the bag
with Jimmy’s belongings on the seat beside her in the car. The drive
home was difficult. It was even harder to enter the empty house. She
carried Jimmy’s belongings, and the plastic bag with the lock of his
hair to her son’s room. She started placing the model cars and other
personal things back in his room exactly where he had always kept them.
She laid down across his bed and, hugging his pillow, cried herself to
sleep.
It was around midnight when Sally awoke. Laying beside her on the bed was a folded letter. The letter said:
“Dear Mom,
I
know you’re going to miss me; but don’t think that I will ever forget
you, or stop loving you, just ’cause I’m not around to say I LOVE YOU. I
will always love you, Mom, even more with each day. Someday we will see
each other again. Until then, if you want to adopt a little boy so you
won’t be so lonely, that’s okay with me. He can have my room and old
stuff to play with. But, if you decide to get a girl instead, she
probably wouldn’t like the same things us boys do. You’ll have to buy
her dolls and stuff girls like, you know. Don’t be sad thinking about
me. This really is a neat place. Grandma and Grandpa met me as soon as I
got here and showed me around some, but it will take a long time to see
everything. The angels are so cool. I love to watch them fly. And, you
know what? Jesus doesn’t look like any of his pictures. Yet, when I saw
Him, I knew it was Him. Jesus himself took me to see GOD! And guess
what, Mom? I got to sit on God’s knee and talk to Him, like I was
somebody important. That’s when I told Him that I wanted to write you a
letter, to tell you good-bye and everything. But I already knew that
wasn’t allowed. Well, you know what Mom? God handed me some paper and
His own personal pen to write you this letter. I think Gabriel is the
name of the angel who is going to drop this letter off to you. God said
for me to give you the answer to one of the questions you asked Him
‘Where was He when I needed him?’ “God said He was in the same place
with me, as when His son Jesus was on the cross. He was right there, as
He always is with all His children.
Oh, by the way, Mom,
no one else can see what I’ve written except you. To everyone else this
is just a blank piece of paper. Isn’t that cool? I have to give God His
pen back now. He needs it to write some more names in the Book of Life.
Tonight I get to sit at the table with Jesus for supper. I’m, sure the
food will be great.
Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. I
don’t hurt anymore. The cancer is all gone. I’m glad because I couldn’t
stand that pain anymore and God couldn’t stand to see me hurt so much,
either. That’s when He sent The Angel of Mercy to come get me. The Angel
said I was a Special Delivery! How about that?
Signed with Love from: God, Jesus & Me.”
My mom only had one eye. I hated her… She was such an embarrassment. She cooked for students and teachers to support the family.
There was this one day during elementary school where my mom came to say hello to me. I was so embarrassed.
How
could she do this to me? I ignored her, threw her a hateful look and
ran out. The next day at school one of my classmates said, “EEEE, your
mom only has one eye!”
I wanted to bury myself. I also wanted my
mom to just disappear. I confronted her that day and said, “If you’re
only gonna make me a laughing stock, why don’t you just die?”
My
mom did not respond… I didn’t even stop to think for a second about
what I had said, because I was full of anger. I was oblivious to her
feelings.
I wanted out of that house, and have nothing to do with her. So I studied real hard, got a chance to go abroad to study.
Then,
I got married. I bought a house of my own. I had kids of my own. I was
happy with my life, my kids and the comforts. Then one day, my Mother
came to visit me. She hadn’t seen me in years and she didn’t even meet
her grandchildren.
When she stood by the door, my children
laughed at her, and I yelled at her for coming over uninvited. I
screamed at her, “How dare you come to my house and scare my children!
GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!!!”
And to this, my mother quietly
answered, “Oh, I’m so sorry. I may have gotten the wrong address.” –
and she disappeared out of sight.
One day, a letter regarding a
school reunion came to my house. So I lied to my wife that I was going
on a business trip. After the reunion, I went to the old shack just out
of curiosity.
My neighbors said that she died. I did not shed a single tear. They handed me a letter that she had wanted me to have.
“My dearest son,
I think of you all the time. I’m sorry that I came to your house and scared your children.
I
was so glad when I heard you were coming for the reunion. But I may
not be able to even get out of bed to see you. I’m sorry that I was a
constant embarrassment to you when you were growing up.
You
see……..when you were very little, you got into an accident, and lost
your eye. As a mother, I couldn’t stand watching you having to grow up
with one eye. So I gave you mine.
I was so proud of my son who was seeing a whole new world for me, in my place, with that eye.
A
philosophy professor stood before his class with some items on the
table in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a
very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it ...with
rocks, about 2 inches in diameter.
He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.
So
the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the
jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the
open areas between the rocks.
He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.
The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.
He then asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous “Yes.”
“Now,”
said the professor, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents
your life. The rocks are the important things – your family, your
partner, your health, your children – things that if everything else was
lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.
The pebbles are the other things that matter – like your job, your house, your car.
The sand is everything else. The small stuff.”
“If
you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued “there is no room
for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life.
If you
spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have
room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the
things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children,give
lots of love and respect to your partner. There will always be time to
go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal.
Take care of the rocks first – the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”
