I am a 61 year old, father of two boys and have been happily married for 33 years. I have been a Physical Education teacher and coach for 38 years and have loved EVERY minute of it. I enjoy making people laugh and feel good about themselves. It’s fun collecting inspiring and heartwarming stories.from people. So, if you have a good story…let me know! I hope you enjoy my page!! :)
Remember:
Everyone is fighting a battle that you know nothing about.
Be kind.
Always.
Here is a nice little list that I recently found that demonstrates the important points of a good friend in a fun way.
(A)ccepts you as you are
(B)elieves in “you”
(C)alls you just to say “HI”
(D)oesn’t give up on you
(E)nvisions the whole of you (even the unfinished parts)
(F)orgives your mistakes
(G)ives unconditionally
(H)elps you
(I)nvites you over
(J)ust “be” with you
(K)eeps you close at heart
(L)oves you for who you are
(M)akes a difference in your life
(N)ever Judges
(O)ffers support
(P)icks you up
(Q)uiets your fears
(R)aises your spirits
(S)ays nice things about you
(T)ells you the truth when you need to hear it
(U)nderstands you
(V)alues you
(W)alks beside you
(X)-plains thing you don’t understand
(Y)ells when you won’t listen and
(Z)aps you back to reality
There is nothing on this earth to be prized more than friendship. ~ St. Thomas Aquinas
I am a baseball junkie…in fact I LOVE the great American pastime. One of my favorite things to do is to go back and “visit” the “good ole days” of baseball. I get so intrigued looking at photos of all of the baseball immortals, the old stadiums, uniforms, etc.
So, you can imagine my joy and sense of excitement when I saw this video clip of a popular baseball documentary, Ken Burns, “Baseball” of the famous Babe Ruth picture..in color!!
Every once in a while, I come across a story that renews my faith in miracles. The following true story is an example of how miracles just “don’t happen” but come from a higher being.
Tess was a precocious eight year old when she heard her Mom and Dad talking about her little brother, Andrew. All she knew was that he was very sick and they were completely out of money. They were moving to an apartment complex next month because Daddy didn’t have the money for the doctor bills and their house.
Only a very costly surgery could save him now and it was looking like there was no one to loan them the money. She heard Daddy say to her tearful Mother with whispered desperation,
“Only a miracle can save him now.”
Tess went to her bedroom and pulled a glass jelly jar from its hiding place in the closet. She poured all the change out on the floor and counted it carefully.
Three times, even. The total had to be exactly perfect. No chance here for mistakes. Carefully placing the coins back in the jar and twisting on the cap, she slipped out the back door and made her way 6 blocks to Rexall’s Drug Store with the Big Red Indian Chief sign above the door.
She waited patiently for the pharmacist to give her some attention but he was too busy at this moment. Tess twisted her feet to make a scuffing noise.
Nothing.
She cleared her throat with the most disgusting sound she could muster.
No good.
Finally she took a quarter from her jar and banged it on the glass counter.
That did it!
“And what do you want?” the pharmacist asked in an annoyed tone of voice.
“I’m talking to my brother from Chicago whom I haven’t seen in ages,” he said without waiting for a reply to his question.
“Well, I want to talk to you about my brother,” Tess answered back in the same annoyed tone.
“He’s really, really sick… and I want to buy a miracle.”
“I beg your pardon?” said the pharmacist.
“His name is Andrew and he has something bad growing inside his head and my Daddy says only a miracle can save him now. So how much does a miracle
cost?”
“We don’t sell miracles here, little girl. I’m sorry but I can’t help you, “the pharmacist said, softening a little.
“Listen, I have the money to pay for it. If it isn’t enough, I will get the rest. Just tell me how much it costs.”
The pharmacist’s brother was a well-dressed man. He stooped down and asked the little girl, “What kind of a miracle does your brother need?”
“I don’t know,” Tess replied with her eyes welling up. “I just know he’s really sick and Mommy says he needs an operation. But my Daddy can’t pay for it, so I want to use my money.
“How much do you have?” asked the man from Chicago.
“One dollar and eleven cents,” Tess answered barely audibly. “And it’s all the money I have, but I can get some more if I need to.
“Well, what a coincidence,” smiled the man. “A dollar and eleven cents—the exact price of a miracle for little brothers.” He took her money in one hand and with the other hand he grasped her mitten and said “Take me to where you live. I want to see your brother and meet your parents. Let’s see if I have the kind of miracle you need.”
That well dressed man was Dr. Carlton Armstrong, a surgeon, specializing in neuro-surgery. The operation was completed without charge and it wasn’t long until Andrew was home again and doing well.
Tess’s Mom and Dad were happily talking about the chain of events that had led them to this place. “That surgery, “her Mom whispered.”was a real miracle. I wonder how much it would have cost?”
Tess smiled. She knew exactly how much a miracle cost… one dollar and eleven cents …… plus the faith of a little child.
A miracle is not the suspension of natural law, but the operation of a higher law!
A few years ago, the U.S. Naval Academy Anchormen choir sung this song in tribute to the 10th anniversary of 9/11. It’s a beautiful song, dedicated to those that risked their lives to help others, and the wonderful men and women that we lost on that day. We must work together as a nation to heal from this tragedy, and stand strong.
Read more at http://blog.theveteranssite.com/naval-academy-anchormen-tribute-to-911/#7xEKwe78eXZa6l44.99
Have you ever had one of those days that you feel like you are doing the same thing over and over and over? Seems like we humans aren’t the only things that this kind of stuff happens to!
There are some times in our everyday lives that we become so busy with things like work or our careers, that we can quite often spend less time with the things that are really important. Today’s story gives us a great illustration of this life principle.
————–
SON: “Daddy, may I ask you a question?”
DAD: “Yeah sure, what is it?”
SON: “Daddy, how much do you make an hour?”
DAD: “That’s none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?”
SON: “I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?”
DAD: “If you must know, I make $100 an hour.”
SON: “Oh! (With his head down).
SON: “Daddy, may I please borrow $50?”
The father was furious.
DAD: “If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I work hard every day for such this childish behavior.”
The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.
The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy’s questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?
After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think:
Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $ 50 and he really didn’t ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy’s room and opened the door.
DAD: “Are you asleep, son?”
SON: “No daddy, I’m awake”.
DAD: “I’ve been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier. It’s been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here’s the $50 you asked for.”
The little boy sat straight up, smiling.
SON: “Oh, thank you daddy!”
Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills. The man saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.
DAD: “Why do you want more money if you already have some?”
SON: “Because I didn’t have enough, but now I do.
“Daddy, I have $100 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you.”
The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness. It’s just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts. Do remember to share that $100 worth of your time with someone you love? If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days. But the family and friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives. And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than to our family.
As I was walking home this week worrying about all the garbage going on in Washington, Iraq, Syria, London, Moscow, Ukraine etc. and at how my life was falling apart, I saw a yard sign that said:
NEED HELP?
CALL JESUS
1-800-005-3787
Out of curiosity and desperation, I did.
A Mexican showed up with a lawnmower.
———————
Hope this silly joke brought a smile to your face. Have a great day!
This picture called, “Wait For Me Daddy” was taken by photographer, Claude P. Dettloff during World War 2. The kid was seen running away from his mother to his father, Private Jack Bernard. This photo was made to help raise money for war bonding.
I enjoy finding stories that are not only heartwarming or motivational, but I also like to find accounts of people who do extraordinary things. Such is the case of today’s tale which I found on survivor-story. Did you ever feel fortunate enough to survive an unfortunate event? Now, imagine surviving three catastrophic events…simply amazing!
The survivor, a lady named Violet Jessop, lived around the turn of the 20th century and had a fascinating story of surviving not one, not two, but THREE naval disasters during her lifetime. Violet Jessop, who was a stewardess and nurse, is most famous for surviving the sinking of the Titanic. But what’s not widely known is that she survived two other serious naval incidents as well.
The following, were the names of the ships that Jessop was on: and what happened to them:
The Olympic
Violet served on the White Star Liner, the Olympic, which was the Titanic’s sister ship, which suffered a serious collision with the HMS Hawke in 1911.
Miraculously, considering the damage each ship sustained, neither vessel sank and they were both able to limp back into port unaided and under their own steam.
“I was ordered up on deck. Calmly, passengers strolled about. I stood at the bulkhead with the other stewardesses, watching the women cling to their husbands before being put into the boats with their children. Sometime after, a ship’s officer ordered us into the boat (boat 16) first to show some women it was safe. As the boat was being lowered the officer called, ‘Here, Miss Jessop, look after this baby’, and a bundle was dropped onto my lap”. she recalled.
She went on to describe her ordeal when the rescue ship Carpathia arrived on the scene:
“I was still clutching the baby against my hard cork life-belt I was wearing when a woman leaped at me, grabbed the baby, and rushed off with it. It appeared that she put it down on the deck of the Titanic while she went off to fetch something, and when she came back, the baby was gone. I was too frozen and numb to think it strange that this woman had not stopped to say thank you”.
The Britannic
Violet later served as a nurse with the British Red Cross during the First World War, and was aboard the British hospital ship, the Britannic, when it sank in the Aegean in 1916, after it struck a mine laid by a German U-Boat.
This time, Violet wasn’t put into a life boat as she was in the Titanic disaster, but was forced to jump into the water because the Britannic was quickly going down.
She attributed her rescue from the sinking of Britannic to her thick auburn hair:
“I leaped into the water but was sucked under the ship’s keel which struck my head. I escaped, but years later when I went to my doctor because of a lot of headaches, he discovered I had once sustained a fracture of the skull!”.
Some Fascinating Facts About Ms. Jessop
Born on October 2, 1887, Violet Jessop spent forty two years of her life at sea as a stewardess and nurse.
She was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and her father was a sheep farmer.
She was the eldest of five brothers and sisters and her family later moved to England.
Violet began her sea career at the age of twenty one on the Royal Mail Line steamer Orinoco in 1908.
She originally had trouble finding work on ships due to her young age, and her strikingly good looks. Simply put, she was just too pretty to get hired.
She was about five feet three inches tall, had blue-grey eyes, auburn colored hair, and spoke with a trace of an Irish accent.
She mentioned that on one voyage alone, she had no less than three marriage proposals from passengers, one of whom was a wealthy first class passenger.
After being repeatedly turned down at interviews, she finally decided to wear no makeup and to dress in the drabbest clothes she could find.
She said she made herself appear ten years older, and was hired at the next shipping line that she applied to.
Working her way up the career ladder she ascended from working with third class passengers to working with first class passengers.
My Good Time Stories 