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WITandWISDOM(tm) - April 3, 2003 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: I make progress by having people around me who are smarter than I am - and listening to them. And I assume that everyone is smarter about something than I am. - Henry Kaiser Source: Bits & Pieces, July 21, 1994, Copyright (c) Economic Press, Inc. http://www2.ragan.com/html/main.isx?sub=1249 ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: Butterfly Kisses By T. Suzanne Eller My newlywed husband said the same thing every morning. "You're beautiful today." One glance in the mirror revealed that it was far from the truth. A skinny girl with mashed hair on one side of her head and no makeup smiled back at me. I could feel my sticky morning breath. "Liar," I shot back with a grin. It was my usual response. My mother's first husband was not a kind man and his verbal and physical abuse forced her and her two children to find a safe place. He showed up on her doorstep one day with roses. She let him in and he beat her with those roses and took advantage of her. Nine months later she gave birth to a 9 lb. 13 oz. baby girl -- me. The harsh words we heard growing up took root. I had trouble seeing myself as someone of value. I had been married two years when I surprised myself. My husband wrapped his arms around me and told me I was beautiful. "Thank you," I said. The same thin girl with the mousy brown hair still stared back at me in the mirror, but somehow the words had finally blossomed in my heart. A lot of years have passed. My husband has grey in his hair. I'm no longer skinny. Last week I woke up and my husband's face was inches from mine. "What are you doing?" I asked. I covered my mouth, trying to hide my morning breath. He reached down and kissed my face. "What I do every morning," he said. He leaves in the early hours of the morning while I sleep. I miss our morning conversations, but I had not realized that he continued to tell me that he loved me even while I slept. When he left, I rolled over and hugged my pillow. I envisioned the picture of me lightly snoring with my mouth open and giggled. What a man! My husband understands my past. He's been beside me as I've grown from an unsure young girl to a confident woman, mother, speaker and author. But I'm not sure that he understands the part he played in that transition. The words I heard growing up pierced my soul, yet his words pierced even deeper. This Valentine's Day I plan to wake early. I want to tell Richard how much I love him. He may look in the mirror and see an extra pound or two, or wish for the day when his hair was dark and curly, but all I'll see is the man who saw something in me when I couldn't see it myself, and who leaves butterfly kisses, even after twenty-three years of marriage. By T. Suzanne Eller mailto:eller@intellex.com http://daretobelieve.org/ Suzanne is a ministry speaker and lives in Oklahoma with her husband, Richard. She is the author of "Real Teens, Real Stories, Real Life," ISBN: 1589195000, http://isbn.nu/1589195000 ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: "Hollywood Squares" The classic version of "Hollywood Squares" ran from 1966 to 1981 with Peter Marshall as emcee, Paul Lynde in the center square, and Charley Weaver, Wally Cox, and Rose Marie all working as regulars. Though many of the celebrity responses were scripted, the timing and delivery made them priceless. Q: Which of your five senses tends to diminish as you get older? Charley Weaver: My sense of decency. Q: According to Ann Landers, is there anything wrong with getting into the habit of kissing a lot of people? Charley Weaver: It got me out of the Army. Q: Jackie Gleason recently revealed that he firmly believes in them and has actually seen them on at least two occasions. What are they? Charley Weaver: His feet. Q: If you were pregnant for two years, what would you give birth to? Paul Lynde: Whatever it is, it wouldn't be afraid of the dark. Q: Now listen carefully, Paul ... during the time of the hula hoop, the yo-yo, and Davy Crockett hats, who was in the White House? Paul Lynde: I'll say the yo-yo. Q: True or False: As you get older, your skin becomes more transparent. Charley Weaver: Out at the home in the x-ray room, they just hold us up to a light bulb. Q: In what state was Abraham Lincoln born? Paul Lynde: In what state? Well, like all of us ... naked and screaming! Q: According to beauty experts, you put some egg white on your face, leave it on for two minutes, and then rinse with cool water. If you've been successful, what's gone? Rose Marie: The egg white. Selected and edited from http://www.classicsquares.com by Mark Raymond Source: Flint Friday Funny, mailto:baldmark@myexcel.com?subject=Subscribe_Flint_Friday_Funny ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: Our children's Sunday School classes were presenting their end of the year program for the congregation - telling about the life of Jesus. When it came to the part about Jesus' miracles, one little boy said, "Yes, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead!" The teacher urged him to tell us more. He said, "Well, Jesus told them to open the tomb, and then He said, 'Lazarus, come out!' And it's a good thing he didn't just say 'Come out!' because there would have been a stampede of dead guys." Source: The Flush(tm), http://www.funinmichigan.com/index.htm ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: SpaceWander Round-trip First Class For an interesting, informative and picturesque trip that is "out of this world" visit the following link which will take you on a tour through space and back aboard a spacecraft: http://spacewander.com/USA/english.html Submitted by Bill Summerton |