Once upon a time all feelings and emotions went to a coastal island
for a vacation. According to their nature, each was having a good time.
Suddenly, a warning of an impending storm was announced and everyone was
advised to evacuate the island.
The announcement caused sudden
panic. All rushed to their boats. Even damaged boats were quickly
repaired and commissioned for duty.
Yet, Love did not wish to flee
quickly. There was so much to do. But as the clouds darkened, Love
realised it was time to leave. Alas, there were no boats to spare. Love
looked around with hope.
Just then Prosperity passed by in a luxurious boat. Love shouted, “Prosperity, could you please take me in your boat?”
“No,” replied Prosperity, “my boat is full of precious possessions, gold and silver. There is no place for you.”
A
little later Vanity came by in a beautiful boat. Again Love shouted,
“Could you help me, Vanity? I am stranded and need a lift. Please take
me with you.”
Vanity responded haughtily, “No, I cannot take you with me. My boat will get soiled with your muddy feet.”
Sorrow
passed by after some time. Again, Love asked for help. But it was to no
avail. “No, I cannot take you with me. I am so sad. I want to be by
myself.”
When Happiness passed by a few minutes later, Love again
called for help. But Happiness was so happy that it did not look around,
hardly concerned about anyone.
Love was growing restless and
dejected. Just then somebody called out, “Come Love, I will take you
with me.” Love did not know who was being so magnanimous, but jumped on
to the boat, greatly relieved that she would reach a safe place.
On
getting off the boat, Love met Knowledge. Puzzled, Love inquired,
“Knowledge, do you know who so generously gave me a lift just when no
one else wished to help?”
Knowledge smiled, “Oh, that was Time.”
“And why would Time stop to pick me and take me to safety?” Love wondered.
Knowledge
smiled with deep wisdom and replied, “Because only Time knows your true
greatness and what you are capable of. Only Love can bring peace and
great happiness in this world.”
“The important message is that
when we are prosperous, we overlook love. When we feel important, we
forget love. Even in happiness and sorrow we forget love. Only with time
do we realize the importance of love. Why wait that long? Why not make
love a part of your life today?”
Author Unknown
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.”
After 21 years of marriage, my wife wanted me to take another woman
out to dinner and a movie. She said, “I love you, but I know this other
woman loves you and would love to spend some time with you.”
The
other woman that my wife wanted me to visit was my MOTHER, who has been a
widow for 19 years, but the demands of my work and my three children
had made it possible to visit her only occasionally.
That night I called
to invite her to go out for dinner and a movie. “What’s wrong, are you
well?” she asked.
My mother is the type of woman who suspects that
a late night call or a surprise invitation is a sign of bad news. “I
thought that it would be pleasant to spend some time with you,” I
responded. “Just the two of us.” She thought about it for a moment, and
then said, “I would like that very much.”
That Friday after work,
as I drove over to pick her up I was a bit nervous. When I arrived at
her house, I noticed that she, too, seemed to be nervous about our date.
She waited in the door with her coat on. She had curled her hair and
was wearing the dress that she had worn to celebrate her last wedding
anniversary. She smiled from a face that was as radiant as an angel’s.
“I told my friends that I was going to go out with my son, and they were
impressed, “she said, as she got into the car. “They can’t wait to hear
about our meeting.”
We went to a restaurant that, although not
elegant, was very nice and cozy. My mother took my arm as if she were
the First Lady. After we sat down, I had to read the menu. Her eyes
could only read large print. Half way through the entries, I lifted my
eyes and saw Mom sitting there staring at me. A nostalgic smile was on
her lips. “It was I who used to have to read the menu when you were
small,” she said. “Then it’s time that you relax and let me return the
favor,” I responded. During the dinner, we had an agreeable conversation
– nothing extraordinary but catching up on recent events of each
other’s life. We talked so much that we missed the movie. As we arrived
at her house later, she said, “I’ll go out with you again, but only if
you let me invite you.” I agreed.
“How was your dinner date?” asked my wife when I got home. “Very nice. Much more so than I could have imagined,” I answered.
A
few days later, my mother died of a massive heart attack. It happened
so suddenly that I didn’t have a chance to do anything for her.
Some
time later, I received an envelope with a copy of a restaurant receipt
from the same place mother and I had dined. An attached note said: “I
paid this bill in advance. I wasn’t sure that I could be there; but
nevertheless, I paid for two plates – one for you and the other for your
wife. You will never know what that night meant for me. I love you,
son.”
At that moment, I understood the importance of saying in
time: “I LOVE YOU” and to give our loved ones the time that they
deserve. Nothing in life is more important than your family. Give them
the time they deserve, because these things cannot be put off till “some
other time.”
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.
