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WITandWISDOM(tm) - July 29, 2005 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: Marlo Thomas, after accepting the Emmy's Bob Hope Humanitarian Award on behalf of her late father, Danny Thomas: "My father said there are two kinds of people in the world: givers and takers. The takers may eat better, but the givers sleep better." Source: Guideposts, Copyright (c) February 2005, http://www.guideposts.org ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: Even though I have had many addresses while serving my country (fourteen places over the last ten years), I have had only one home. My home moves with me wherever I am assigned to duty. My wife Julie has long dark hair, hazel eyes and skin like ivory. When I walk through the door at the end of a long day at the base and see Julie's face and smell the sweet scent of her perfume, I know that I am home. My children are still young. My son, Daniel, is six, and my daughter, Samantha, is four. My house would not be my home without the sound of cartoons on the television, the children giggling and my family greeting me at the end of each day. Home is my family. I dream of sending Daniel and Samantha to college. I dream of buying some property in a small town and building a house. I dream of spending my life with Julie and watching our children grow. Home is my dreams. The blue couch Julie and I bought a few moves ago doesn't fit well in our new house, but it's part of our home now. We sit on it together, and I read to my children. Or we just sit and watch television. A friend gave us a red dinner plate a few years ago for Christmas. Along the edges of the plate, written in white letters, are the words, "You are special today." We only use the red plate on special days. Daniel ate off it on his first day of kindergarten. I ate off it on the first day of my new job. Samantha ate off it on her birthday. We all get to eat off the red plate on our birthdays. Home is familiar things. My faith is always with me. God is always with me. I share that faith with Julie, and we try to set an example for our children. Our faith bonds our family together and strengthens our home. Home is my faith in God. Home is more than a house you buy or an apartment you rent. Home is the heart you put into that house or apartment. The love families have for each other is what makes a home complete. When I move to my next duty station, I know my home will be with me because I'll have the love of my family with me. We'll bring the things we've collected over the years, and we'll make our next house our home. The red plate will be there, and the blue couch will be there. I'll have my family, my dreams, my faith in God - and I'll be home. By Benjamin Pigsley (c) 1994 from Chicken Soup for the Military Wife's Soul by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Charles Preston and Cindy Pedersen. 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/0757302653 Visit us and read other sample stories and meet the authors. http://www.chickensoup.com Source: Beliefnet Chicken Soup, http://ydib.net/n_soup/subscribe.shtml ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: Which Hue are You? The British Royal Automobile Club came up with a list of what a car's color says about its owner. Here is what your vehicle is telling people about you: Black: You're ambitious and status-seeking. Green: You're very traditional and an elitist. Blue: You're a team player and very sociable. White: You're aloof, dutiful and methodical. Gray: You're understated and cautious. Silver: You have a sense of style, but you can be pompous. Red: You're outgoing, impulsive and easily bored. Chicago Sun-Times, http://www.suntimes.com Source: Copyright © September 2002, The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved., http://www.readersdigest.com/ ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: One day a child at my four-year-old's preschool class told her classmates that she needed a 'damp towel.' Some of the other kids thought she said a naughty word and told on her. The teacher stepped in to explain, "If your mommy asked you to bring her a damp towel, what does she want?" A little girl blurted out, "She means she wants that towel right now!" Submitted by Lulu ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: During her walks on the beach, my mother spotted a ring-billed gull with an amputated leg. She tried to feed it, but the other gulls chased it away. The gull just retreated silently. Mom began calling it "Renard the Brave." In time. Mom and Renard became friends. Each summer, she worried whether he'd survived the winter. He always showed up in August, and Mom fed him until the other birds chased him off. Eventually, Mom fed Renard by throwing food into the water. Renard caught it on the fly, coming within a couple feet of her. The other gulls squawked overhead, but kept their distance. The next summer, Mom feared she'd finally seen the last of Renard. The local sardine factory had closed, taking much of the gull population with it. But Renard showed up in August, as always... and when she approached him with a piece of bread, he ate it from her outstretched hand. By Jane Woodruff, Pittsfield, Maine Source: Birds & Blooms Extra, July 2005, http://www.birdsandblooms.com