SHORT AND SWEET; BLOG NUMBER 107; NOV 29, 2013

THE MESSAGE:  When you lose a daughter the pain never goes away; however, memories linger and life goes on.


KEEPERS  Author unknown

I grew up with practical parents.
A mother, God love her, who washed
aluminum foil after she cooked in it, then reused it.
She was the original recycle queen before they had a name for it.
A father who was happier getting old shoes fixed than buying new ones.

Their marriage was good, their dreams focused.
Their best friends lived barely a wave away.

I can see them now, Dad in trousers, tee shirt and a hat and Mom in a house dress, lawn mower in one hand, and dish-towel in the other. It was the time for fixing things. A curtain rod, the kitchen radio, screen door, the oven door, the hem in a dress. Things we keep.

It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy. All that re-fixing, eating, renewing, I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence.
Throwing things away meant you knew there'd always be more.

But then my mother died, and on that clear summer's night,
in the warmth of the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't any more.

Sometimes, what we care about most gets all used up and goes away ... never to return. So ... While we have it ... it's best we love it ... And care for it ... And fix it when it's broken ... And heal it when it's sick.

This is true. For marriage ... And old cars ... And children with bad report cards ... And dogs with bad hips ... And aging parents ... And grandparents. We keep them because they are worth it, because we are worth it.

Some things we keep. Like a best friend that moved away or a classmate we grew up with.

There are just some things that make life important, like people we know who are special ... And so, we keep them close!

STEPHEN HARPER

In France , at a fairly large conference, Prime Minister Stephen Harper was asked by a French cabinet minister if Canadian involvement in Afghanistan was just an example of "empire building".

Mr. Harper answered by saying, 'Over the years, Canada has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those that did not return.'

You could have heard a pin drop.

ROBERT WHITING

When Robert Whiting, an elderly Canadian gentleman of 83, arrived in Paris by plane, he took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry-on at French Customs.

"You have been to France before, monsieur?" the Customs officer asked sarcastically..

Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France previously.

The official replied, "Then you should know enough to have your passport ready."

The Canadian said, "The last time I was here, I didn't have to show it."

"Impossible, Monseur. Canadians always have to show passports on arrival in France !"

The Canadian senior gave the Frenchman a long, hard look. Then he quietly explained, "Well, when I came ashore on D-Day in 1944 to help liberate this country, I couldn't find a single Frenchman to show a passport to."

MADELINE SCIAMANA 

My grand daughter

Madeline Sciamanna,  submitted this to her Language Arts class.

The worst 20 minutes of my life, so far

            “Madeline” said the nurse. I got up and followed her to the room. The nurse showed me and my mom my tooth x-rays. Apparently, if I didn’t get the tooth pulled it would be bad and painful.  She started by numbing my gums with this disgusting red gel. Then, she asked me, “what was the last thing you ate?” I said, “goldfish crackers”. She laughed and said “that’s why you have orange stuff in your mouth”. She let me take a rinse, and then we got started.

            Dr. Lam, my dentist, walked in and started to speak dentist’s language to the nurse.  I just hoped it meant something good. I closed my eyes and opened wide so the dentist could do his work. He thought that I wasn’t paying attention, however, this time, I was. He snuck a huge needle in my mouth and put this weird neon green gel in my gums to make it numb. I would have moved but I couldn’t because the nurse was holding me down.

            My mom looked at me and made a face that helped me know there was blood. So, I made a “HELP ME” face back at her. He started to cut my tooth out of my gums. I started to sweat because he was putting pressure on my tooth. I started to breathe really heavy. All of sudden I started to hear the roots crack and pop.  After the tooth came out of my mouth he showed it to me and said “you can have a toy from the box”, but I couldn’t talk because my mouth was numb. But if I could have spoken I would have asked for two.

QUESTION: Who is more fun than grandchildren?

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "Grandchildren fill me with pride, hope and trust. They make my world more fun, more interesting and more musical. My world has become softer, warmer, kinder and beyond wonder."-T@T

LEMONS TO: 

Canadian senators who try to excuse their corruption by blaming the PMO and Harper. They share it with media axe-grinders; hungry for exclusive stories or stories to fill the papers or airtime with their incessant CRAP.

CLIP OF THE WEEK:
YOU CAN SKIP THE AD IN THIS CLIP BUT NOT THE MESSAGE!