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WITandWISDOM(tm) - July 23, 1999 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: "Sadness and gladness precede each other." - Confucius (E-zine: GOBBLER GROUP Mailto:Gobbler_Group- subscribe@onelist.com) ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: In 1921, Lewis Lawes became the warden at Sing Sing Prison. No prison was tougher than Sing Sing during that time. But when Warden Lawes retired some 20 years later, that prison had become a humanitarian institution. Those who studied the system said credit for the change belonged to Lawes. But when he was asked about the transformation, here's what he said, "I owe it all to my wonderful wife, Catherine, who is buried outside the prison walls." Catherine Lawes was a young mother with three small children when her husband became the warden. Everybody warned her from the beginning that she should never set foot inside the prison walls, but that didn't stop Catherine! When the first prison basketball game was held, she went. . . walking into the gym with her three beautiful kids and she sat in the stands with the inmates. Her attitude was: "My husband and I are going to take care of these men and I believe they will take care of me! I don't have to worry!" She insisted on getting acquainted with them and their records. She discovered one convicted murderer was blind so she paid him a visit. Holding his hand in hers she said, "Do you read Braille?" "What's Braille?" he asked. Then she taught him how to read. Years later he would weep in love for her. Later, Catherine found a deaf-mute in prison. She went to school to learn how to use sign language. Many said that Catherine Lawes was the body of Jesus that came alive again in Sing Sing from 1921 to 1937. Then, she was killed in a car accident. The next morning Lewis Lawes didn't come to work, so the acting warden took his place. It seemed almost instantly that the prison knew something was wrong. The following day, her body was resting in a casket in her home, three-quarters of a mile from the prison. As the acting warden took his early morning walk, he was shocked to see a large crowd of the toughest, hardest-looking criminals gathered like a herd of animals at the main gate. He came closer and noted tears of grief and sadness. He knew how much they loved Catherine. He turned and faced the men, "All right, men you can go. Just be sure and check in tonight!" Then he opened the gate and a parade of criminals walked, without a guard, the three-quarters of a mile to stand in line to pay their final respects to Catherine Lawes. And every one of them checked back in. Every one! By Tim Kimmel, from A 4th Course of Chicken Soup for the Soul, Copyright 1997 by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor, Hansen, Hanoch McCarty & Meladee McCarty (E-zine: CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL http://www.soupserver.com/) ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: WHAT I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE I HAD KIDS. . . Who John Jacob Jingle Heimershmitt is. How to change a diaper in the dark, in a parked car, on a standing child and all of the above simultaneously. Which lines of The Cat in the Hat and If I Ran the Circus can be skipped over without a child noticing. How bright a 3 a.m. full moon is. The design marvels of hooded towels, Velcro-strap shoes and mitten clips. Locations of public restrooms all across town. Why anyone would bother retracing their steps for miles just to retrieve a lost blankie. That tigers live in the trees in our backyard. How to open a van door while bobbling 2 lunch boxes, two extra coats, a purse, a diaper bag and a baby. That solid white socks get lost in the dryer at a much slower rate than do the mates of patterned socks that coordinate to special outfits. How little sleep a human body truly needs to function. Almost every Disney lyric ever penned. How to spell amoxicillin, let alone say it. That one can never own too many sippy cup lids or refrigerator magnets. Scientific names of dinosaurs from A to Z. That reverse psychology really works. The recipe for a homemade version of Play-doh. The distinctive sounds of Cheerios crunching underfoot. Why they call them Happy meals. How far you can dilute juice and still retain it's taste. The blessedness of naps, the inviolate importance of routines. How much you could love one human being! (E-zine: WEEKLY PARENTING HUMOR Mailto:parentinghumor- subscribe@egroups.com) ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: I tell you, women drivers are a hazard to traffic. Driving to work this morning on the freeway, I looked over to my left and there was a woman in a Mustang doing 65 miles per hour with her face up next to her rear view mirror putting on her eyeliner! I looked away for a couple seconds and when I looked back she was drifting over to my lane. It scared me so bad I dropped my electric shaver in my coffee, and it spilled all over my cell phone! (E-zine: JOKES EVERY DAY Mailto:jokesubscribe@jokeseveryday.com) ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: DID YOU KNOW THIS ABOUT CATS? Ancient Egyptians shaved off their eyebrows to mourn the death of their cats. Pollsters say that 40% of dog and cat owners carry pictures of their pets in their wallets. Napoleon Bonaparte was afraid of cats. Cats, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, have a very high possibility of having six toes. (E-zine: Today's Useless Facts Mailto:Useless_Facts- subscribe@listbot.com) |