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WITandWISDOM(tm) - February 6, 2007 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: "The less secure a man is, the more likely he is to have extreme prejudices." - Clint Eastwood Source: Weekend Encounter, by Dick Innes, Copyright (c) ACTS International, 2004, http://www.actsweb.org/subscribe.php ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: Over the Thanksgiving holiday break, my mom and I bought tickets to see the Broadway show Mary Poppins. While we were waiting on line, people arrived and lined up behind us. A couple who were tourists were at the very end of the line, even though they just wanted two tickets. A man came up to them and gave them two Mary Poppins tickets. They were very excited and asked how much they owed him. He said "Happy Thanksgiving." The woman began to cry because it meant so much to her to have this stranger give them tickets, orchestra seats, to this amazing show, one of the hottest tickets in town. It just goes to show that even in the city that never sleeps, kindness can be found there as well. Source: Kind Words, mailto:Kindness-subscribe@PartnersInKindness.org ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: "Mom, you should put some of your things away. Baby-proof this house," stated our oldest son Mark as he lumbered up the stairs followed by his wife, Kim, and fifteen-month-old Hannah. Visiting for the Thanksgiving holiday, he finished unloading the luggage and took it to the guest room downstairs. After driving all day from Salt Lake to Ft. Collins, his temper showed. "That one-finger rule may work with the twins, but it'll never work with Hannah," he insisted. When my three granddaughters were born four months apart and the twins moved into our house at eight months, my close friend offered me her secret to entertaining grandchildren with few mishaps. "Teach them the 'one-finger rule.'" All of her five grandchildren learned it at a young age. The success of the method surprised me. I picked up my granddaughter and said, "Well, Mark, you just watch." I hugged her and walked all around the great room. "Hannah, you may touch anything in this room you want. But, you can only use one finger." I demonstrated the technique by touching my forefinger to the African sculpture on the mantel. Hannah followed my example. "Good girl. Now what else would you like to touch?" She stretched her finger toward another object on the mantel. I allowed her to touch everything in sight - plants, glass objects, TV, VCR, lamps, speakers, candles and artificial flowers. If she started to grab, I gently reminded her to use one finger. She always obeyed. But, Hannah, an only child, possessed a more adventurous personality. Her father predicted it would prevent her from accepting the one-finger rule. During their four-day stay, we aided Hannah in remembering the one-finger rule. She learned quickly. I only put away the things that might prove to be a danger to a child. Otherwise, we watched her closely, and nothing appeared to suffer any damage. Besides, "things" can be replaced. A few fingerprints on glass doors, windows and tables remained after Hannah and her family returned home. I couldn't bring myself to clean them for days. Each one reminded me of some wonderful experience with Hannah. Months later, my husband and I drove to Salt Lake, and I watched Mark and Kim continue to practice the one-finger rule. But I refrained from saying, "I told you so." Yet, I smiled inwardly each time they prodded Hannah to touch with "one finger." Mark, a salesman, always gave a packet of gifts to his potential clients. The night before we returned home, Mark sat on the floor stuffing gifts into their packets. Hannah helped. Then she picked up one gift, held it in her hand as if it were a fragile bird, and walked toward me. At my knee, her beautiful blue eyes looked into mine. She stretched her prize to me and said, "One finger, Nana!" By Linda Osmundson © 2001 from Chicken Soup for the Grandparent's Soul by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Meladee McCarty and Hanoch McCarty, http://isbn.nu/0757300588 ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: It was our second anniversary, and my husband sent me flowers at the office. He told the florist to write "Happy Anniversary, Year Number 2" on the card. I was thrilled with the flowers, but not so pleased with the card. It read "Happy Anniversary. You're Number 2." Source: Clean Laffs, http://www.cleanlaffs.com/ ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: Martha Berry was a lady with a vision to help children. She began a school for poor children. She had no books, no building and no money. But she had a dream. She went to Henry Ford to ask for a donation. Mr. Ford reached into his pocket gave Martha Berry a dime. Most people would have been insulted, here he is a multi-millionaire and all he could give was a dime. But Martha took that dime and bought a packet of seeds and planted a garden, raised a crop, sold it and bought more seeds. After three or four harvest she had enough money to purchase and old building for the children. She returned to Mr. Ford and said, “Look what your dime has done.” The man was so impressed that he donated a million dollars to Berry School. From: Parable of the Talents by Jason Cole Source: SermonCentral Weekly Newsletter, http://www.sermoncentral.com/newsletter_subscribe.asp