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WITandWISDOM(tm) - April 3, 2000
~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: Almost every man wastes part of his life in attempts to display qualities which he does not possess. - Samuel Johnson Source: The Daily Quote, quotes-on@mail-list.com via http://www.witandwisdom.org ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: As we rolled five-year-old Mary into the MRI room, I tried to imagine what she must be feeling. She had suffered a stroke that left half of her body paralyzed, had been hospitalized for treatment of a brain tumor, and had recently lost her father, her mother and her home. We all wondered how Mary would react. She went into the MRI machine without the slightest protest, and we began the exam. At that time, each imaging sequence required the patient to remain perfectly still for about five minutes. This would have been difficult for anyone - and certainly for a five-year-old who had suffered so much. We were taking an image of her head, so any movement of her face, including talking, would result in image distortion. About two minutes into the first sequence, we noticed on the video monitor that Mary's mouth was moving. We even heard a muted voice over the intercom. We halted the exam and gently reminded Mary not to talk. She was smiling and promised not to talk. We reset the machine and started over. Once again we saw her facial movement and heard her voice faintly. What she was saying wasn't clear. Everyone was becoming a little impatient, with a busy schedule that had been put on hold to perform an emergency MRI on Mary. We went back in and slid Mary out of the machine. Once again, she looked at us with her crooked smile and wasn't upset in the least. The technologist, perhaps a bit gruffly, said, "Mary, you were talking again, and that causes blurry pictures." Mary's smile remained as she replied, "I wasn't talking. I was singing. You said no talking." We looked at each other, feeling a little silly. "What were you singing?" someone asked. "Jesus Loves Me," came the barely perceptible reply. "I always sing `Jesus Loves Me' when I'm happy." Everyone in the room was speechless. "Happy? How could this little girl be happy?" The technologist and I had to leave the room for a moment to regain our composure as tears began to fall. Many times since that day, when feeling stresses, unhappy or dissatisfied with some part of my life, I have thought of Mary and felt both humbled and inspired. Her example made me see that happiness is a marvelous gift - free to anyone willing to accept it. By James C Brown, M.D., from A 5th Portion of Chicken Soup for the Soul, Copyright 1998 by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen Source: Chicken Soup For The Soul, Copyright (c) www.soupserver.com via http://www.witandwisdom.org ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: From a book called "When My Grandmother Was a Child" by Leigh W. Rutledge Part 1 of 2 [April 3 & 13] "In the summer of 1900, when my grandmother was a child . . . "The average life expectancy in the United States was forty-seven. "Only 14 percent of the homes in the United States had a bathtub. "Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone. A three-minute call from Denver to New York City cost eleven dollars. "There were only 8,000 cars in the US and only 144 miles of paved roads. "The maximum speed limit in most cities was ten mph. "Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, and Tennessee were each more heavily populated than California. With a mere 1.4 million residents, "California was only the twenty-first most populous state in the Union. "The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower. "The average wage in the US was twenty-two cents an hour. The average US worker made between $200 and $400 per year. "A competent accountant could expect to earn $2,000 per year, a dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year. "More than 95 percent of all births in the United States took place at home. "Ninety percent of all US physicians had no college education. Instead, they attended medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press and by the government as ‘substandard.' "Sugar cost four cents a pound. Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen. Coffee cost fifteen cents a pound. "Most women only washed their hair once a month and used borax or egg yolks for shampoo. Submitted by Carol Blum, Dave & Darla Parker ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: A pessimist is someone who looks at the land of milk and honey and sees only calories and cholesterol. - from "' Wednesday Night Newsletter: TBC Bugle" Submitted by Kiri Christina Hyatt ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: HOW ABOUT THOSE ACTORS: Although starring in many gangster films, James Cagney started his career as a chorus girl. Charlie Chaplin once won third prize in a Charlie Chaplin look alike contest. Peter Falk, who played "Columbo" has a glass eye. The name "Horshack" (Arnold in Welcome Back Kotter) means "the cattle are dying." Source: Today's Useless Facts, Useless_Facts-subscribe@listbot.com via http://www.witandwisdom.org |