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WITandWISDOM(tm) - May 17, 2005 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: "Hanging onto resentment is like letting someone you despise live rent-free in your head." - Ann Landers Source: Clean Laffs, http://www.cleanlaffs.com/ ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: Things have been hard for a friend of mine. She and her six-year-old son have just moved into their own apartment, a break they needed to get out of a difficult situation. The responsibilities of having their own home puts pressure on her while she tries to support her son, and once in a while, it gets the best of her. The little guy is a typical six-year-old: mischievous, energetic and curious. His questions deluge her daily as he discovers the world around him. Most of the time, she takes it all in stride, amazed at how easy it is to please him. The promise of a simple cheeseburger from his favorite restaurant is enough for him to be on his best behavior for an entire weekend. His mom is grateful she can give him what he wants, at least for now. One evening at the end of a very long day at work, the demands of the day were heavy on her mind. After picking up her son at after-school care, the two of them went home for dinner. While going through the motions of preparing his food and looking over his first-grade school papers, the tasks of being a single mom overwhelmed her. Once she had him bathed and tucked into bed, she sat down in the living room and cried. Everything hit her suddenly and without warning. The recent loss of her beloved grandmother, combined with the responsibilities of single-parenting, was just too much. Wiping tears from her eyes, she looked up to see her son peeking into the living room from the hallway. "Mommy, are you okay?" "Yes, honey," she replied. "I'm just a little sad." He walked over to her and wrapped his small arms around her neck. Though she tried to hold them back, her tears fell even more freely, and her son reassured her that everything would be all right. Hurrying back to his bedroom, he returned quickly, handing his mom a small piece of paper folded into a crumpled square. She opened it and read its message: "I love you, Mom." She would have reached out at that moment and held him for eternity, but he had gone into the kitchen and was busy making her his special dish. It's the only thing he can cook, and it took him quite a while to prepare it. Finally, he came into the living room with a plate of buttered toast. It was all he had to give, that and the note. While he sat there proudly, she ate every bite, even though the butter was in a huge clump in the middle. . . . I asked her what in the world a parent could do when a child has given his all. She smiled and replied, "The next day, I took him out for a cheeseburger." Love and Cheeseburgers by Kathy Bohannon (c) 2002 from Chicken Soup for the Single Parent's Soul by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Laurie Hartman and Nancy Vogl. In order to protect the rights of the copyright holder, no portion of this publication may be reproduced without prior written consent. All rights reserved. http://isbn.nu/0757302416 To read other sample stories and meet the authors visit: http://www.chickensoup.com . Source: DailyInBox: Chicken Soup for the Soul, http://ydib.net/n_soup/subscribe.shtml ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: License Plates On the Plate: YURNEXT On a car of an undertaker On the Plate: CME4AD8 See me for a date On the Plate: GGR OOM On a horse grooming company car Source: Sunday Funnies, http://www.net153.com/best.htm ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: In my sociology class, we were instructed to write down answers to some questions the teacher was asking. "Next question," announced the instructor. "How would you like to be seen by the opposite sex?" I was thinking about my answer when the young woman next to me turned and asked, "How do you spell 'intellectual?'" Source: Molly's Quotes of the Day, mailto:rheamo@centurytel.net?subject=Subscribe_Quotes_of_the_Day ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: This is pretty interesting. Watch the age prediction on the top left of the screen change as you answer the various questions. How long do you think that you will live? Click here: http://www.nmfn.com/tnetwork/longevity_game_popup.html Submitted by AsA