Life
LET
me but live my life from year to year,
With
forward face and unreluctant soul;
Not
hurrying to, nor turning from the goal;
Not
mourning for the things that disappear
In
the dim past, nor holding back in fear
From
what the future veils; but with a whole
And
happy heart, that pays its toll
To
Youth and Age, and travels on with cheer.
So
let the way wind up the hill or down,
O'er
rough or smooth, the journey will be joy:
Still
seeking what I sought when but a boy,
New
friendship, high adventure, and a crown,
My
heart will keep the courage of the quest,
And
hope the road's last turn will be the best.
Henry Van Dyke
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Some
things you keep. Like good teeth. Warm coats. Bald husbands. They're good
for you, reliable and practical and so sublime that to throw them away
would make the garbage man a thief. So you hang on, because something old
is sometimes better than something new, and what you know is often better
than a stranger.
These
are my thoughts, they make me sound old, old and tame, and dull at a time
when everybody else is risky and racy and flashing all that's new and improved
in their lives.....new careers, new thighs, new lips, new cars. The world
is dizzy with trade-ins. I could keep track, but I don't think I want to.
I
grew up in the fifties with practical parents -- a mother, God bless her,
who washed aluminum foil after she cooked in it, then reused it -- and
still does. A father who was happier getting old shoes fixed than buying
new ones. They weren't poor, my parents, they were just satisfied.
Their
marriage was good, their dreams focused. Their best friends lived barely
a wave away. I can see them now, Dad in trousers and tee shirt and Mom
in a house dress, lawn mower in his hand, dishtowel in hers. It was a time
for fixing things -- a curtain rod, the kitchen radio, screen door, the
oven door, the hem in a dress.
Things
you keep. It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy. All that
re-fixing, reheating, renewing, I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste
meant affluence. Throwing things away meant there'd always be more.
But
then my father died, and on that clear autumn night, in the chill of the
hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there
isn't any 'more.' Sometimes what you care about most gets all used up and
goes away, never to return.
So,
while you have it, it's best to love it and care for it and fix it when
it's broken and heal it when it's sick. That's true for marriage and old
cars and children with bad report cards and dogs with bad hips and aging
parents.
You
keep them because they're worth it, because you're worth it.
Some
things you keep. Like a best friend that moved away or a classmate you
grew up with, there's just some things that make life important...people
you know are special...and you KEEP them close!
~~Author
unknown
Paul
Harvey Writes:
We
tried so hard to make things better for our kids that we made them worse.
For
my grandchildren, I'd like better.
I'd
really like for them to know about hand me down clothes and homemade ice
cream and leftover meat loaf sandwiches. I really would.
I
hope you learn humility by being humiliated, and that you learn honesty
by being cheated.
I
hope you learn to make your own bed and mow the lawn and wash the car.
And
I really hope nobody gives you
a
brand new car when you are sixteen.
It
will be good if at least one time
you
can see puppies born and your old dog put to sleep.
I
hope you get a black eye fighting for something you believe in.
I
hope you have to share a bedroom with your younger brother/sister. And
it's all right if you have to draw a line down the middle of the room,
but when he wants to crawl under the covers with you because he's scared,
I hope you let him.
When
you want to see a movie
and
your little brother/sister wants to tag along, I hope you'll let him/her.
I
hope you have to walk uphill to school
with
your friends and that you live in a town where you can do it safely.
On
rainy days when you have to catch a ride, I hope you don't ask your driver
to
drop
you two blocks away so you won't be seen riding with someone as uncool
as your Mom.
If
you want a slingshot, I hope your Dad teaches you how to make one instead
of buying one.
I
hope you learn to dig in the dirt and read books.
When
you learn to use computers,
I
hope you also learn to add and subtract in your head.
I
hope you get teased by your friends
when
you have your first crush on a boy\girl, and when you talk back to your
mother that you learn what ivory soap tastes like.
May
you skin your knee climbing a mountain, burn your hand on a stove
and
stick your tongue on a frozen flagpole.
I
don't care if you try a beer once,
but
I hope you don't like it.
And
if a friend offers you dope or a joint,
I
hope you realize he is not your friend.
I
sure hope you make time to sit on a porch with your Grandma/Grandpa
and
go fishing with your Uncle.
May
you feel sorrow at a funeral
and
joy during the holidays.
I
hope your mother punishes you
when
you throw a baseball through your neighbor's window and that she hugs you
and kisses you at Hannukah/Christmas time when you give her a plaster mold
of your hand.
These
things I wish for you -
tough
times and disappointment,
hard
work and happiness.
To
me, it's the only way to appreciate life.
Written
with a pen.
Sealed
with a kiss.
I'm
here for you.
And
if I die before you do,
I'll
go to heaven and wait for you.
Send
this to all of your friends.
We
secure our friends, not by accepting favors, but by doing them.
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Generations
Talkin'
'Bout, My Generation
I
Can't Believe We Made It!
If you
lived as a child in the 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's or even the early 80's.
Looking
back, it's hard to believe that we have lived as long as we have...
As children,
we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back
of a pickup truck on a warm day was always a special treat.
Our baby
cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paint. We had no childproof
lids on medicine bottles, doors, or cabinets, and when we rode our bikes,
we had no helmets. (Not to mention hitchhiking to town as a young kid!)
We drank
water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. Horrors. We would spend
hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then rode down the hill,
only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a
few times we learned to solve the problem.
We would
leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when
the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day.
No cell
phones. Unthinkable. We played dodgeball and sometimes the ball would really
hurt. We got cut and broke bones and broke teeth, and there were no law
suits from these accidents. They were accidents. No one was to blame, but
us. Remember accidents?
We had
fights and punched each other and got black and blue and learned to get
over it.
We ate
cupcakes, bread and butter, and drank sugar soda but we were never overweight...
we were always outside playing. We shared one grape soda with four friends,
from one bottle and no one died from this.
We did
not have Playstations, Nintendo 64, X-Boxes, video games at all, 99 channels
on cable, video tape movies, surround sound, personal cell phones, Personal
Computers, Internet chat rooms ... we had friends. We went outside and
found them. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's home and knocked on the
door, or rang the bell or just walked in and talked to them.
Imagine
such a thing. Without asking a parent! By ourselves! Out there in the cold
cruel world! Without a guardian. How did we do it?
We made
up games with sticks and tennis balls and ate worms and although we were
told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes, nor did the worms
live inside us forever.
Little
League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't, had
to learn to deal with disappointment..... Some students weren't as smart
as others so they failed a grade and were held back to repeat the same
grade.....Horrors. Tests were not adjusted for any reason.
Our actions
were our own. Consequences were expected. No one to hide behind. The idea
of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of.They actually
sided with the law, imagine that!
This
generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and problem solvers
and inventors, ever. The past 50 years has been an explosion of innovation
and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and
we learned how to deal with it all.
And you're
one of them.
Congratulations!
from
Virgil Allen Wulff
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I’m a Senior Citizen
I’m the life of the party -- even when it lasts until
8 p.m.
I’m very good at opening child-proof caps with a hammer.
I’m usually interested in going home before I get to
where I’m going.
I’m good on a trip for a least an hour without my aspirin,
beano, antacid...
I’m the first one to find the bathroom wherever I go.
I’m awake many hours before my body allows me to get
up.
I’m smiling all the time because I can’t hear a word
you are saying.
I’m very good at telling stories.. .over and over and
over and over.
I’m aware that other people’s grandchildren are not as
bright as mine.
I’m so cared for: long-term care, eye care, private care,
dental care...
I’m not grouchy, I just don’t like traffic, waiting,
crowds, children, politicians.
I’m positive I did housework correctly before my mate
retired.
I’m sure everything I can’t find is in a secure place.
I’m wrinkled, saggy and lumpy, and that’s just my left
leg.
I’m having trouble remembering simple words like...
I’m now spending more time with my pillows than with
my mate.
I’m realizing that aging is not for sissies.
I’m anti-everything now: anti-fat, anti-smoke, anti-noise,
anti-inflammatory...
I’m walking more (to the bathroom) and enjoying it less.
I’m going to reveal what goes on behind closed doors..
.absolutely nothing!
I’m sure they are making adults much younger these days.
I’m in the initial state of my golden years: SS, CDS,
IRAs, AARP
I’m wondering.. .if you’re only as old as you feel, how
could I be alive at 150?
I’m supporting all movements now.. .by eating bran, prunes
and raisins.
I’m a walking storeroom of facts.. .I’ve just lost the
storeroom.
I’m a Senior Citizen, and I think I am having the time
of my life!
Author Unknown
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