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WITandWISDOM(tm) - December 20, 2005 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: My signature appears on $60 billion of U.S. currency. More importantly, however, is the signature that appears on my life - the strong, proud, assertive handwriting of a loving mother and father. - Katherine D. Ortega, Former U.S. Treasurer Source: The Funnies, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/andychaps_the-funnies ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: When we moved to Florida in the 50s, we were not familiar with separate drinking fountains and sitting in the back of the bus so common in the South back then. In fact, running to the back of the bus was exactly what we loved to do. We did that on the trolleys in New York. But in our new state we were told that we couldn't do that any more. Three decades later when my husband and I wanted to start a Christmas tree farm in Louisiana in the early 1980s, we hired a realtor to show us some acreage. I wanted to look down the nearby roads to see what was around the property we wanted to buy. I was surprised that the realtor did his best to discourage us. However, I insisted that if he wanted to make a sale, I needed to see the surrounding area. He reluctantly drove us part way down a gravel road. Then he spotted two African Americans with beverage glasses in their hands. He stopped saying it was just a couple of drunks. We insisted on getting out and introducing ourselves. It turned out they were drinking lemonade and offered us some. The Rev. Willie Johnson and his wife Florene became our friends and were extremely helpful to us in our new venture. Florene is an excellent and generous cook. They insisted that their three young children get a good education and drove them long distances to learn to use computers. All three children graduated from college and one daughter is a medical doctor. Looking beyond appearances, they didn't mind that we were “white” and we didn't mind that they were “black.” Our paths crossed and we met one day. And we are glad we did. By Lori M. © For more Soul Magic: http://www.sfpnn.com/soul_magic.htm Source: Sir Froggie's Positive News Network - Daily Good News Letter, http://www.sfpnn.com/subscribe_to_pnn1.htm ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: Christmas Spending By J. Randal Matheny Catch that sale! Shop around, Yuletide gifts are pending! Check those specials -- pound for pound, We're cutting our Christmas spending. Resist those payments, spite the merchants, Forget the banker's lending! Dole out cash for every purchase, Let's check our Christmas spending. Wait! What a gadget! I must get it, Though it's budget bending! Not 'til New Year's will we fret it, This is Christmas spending! Source: Uplift, mailto:uplift-subscribe@associate.com ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: April was puzzled recently by the odd messages she kept getting on her voice mail. Day after day, all she'd hear, from friends, family, and customers alike, would be their message and then they'd ALL say, "BEEP." We were talking about something else and I had her check her voice mail message to find something out. She discovered the solution to the BEEP riddle. Her message said, "I'm not available right now, so, please leave a beep after the message." Source: Cybersalt Digest, http://www.cybersalt.org/ ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: There are over 40,000 Chinese restaurants in the United States, more than the number of McDonalds, Wendy's and Burger King Combined. From: Chinese Restaurant News, http://c-r-n.com/ Source: The Reader's Digest, Copyright © March 2005, All rights reserved., http://www.readersdigest.com/