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WITandWISDOM(tm) - June 12, 2007 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: To love what you do and feel that it matters how could anything be more fun? - Catherine Graham Submitted by Daniel Gustafson ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: I sat in silence beside Mom's hospital bed, not even the oxygen tank whirring now. It, along with her medications, had been removed from the hospice room. Soon it would be over. Tears filled my eves as I gently stroked her hand. I felt so alone. In six short weeks Mom had gone from a cheerful octogenarian piecing together a bright red-and-blue quilt to a still, silent form lying beneath it. I felt so helpless. Whenever I'd needed something. Mom had been there. Now, when she was barely clinging to life, there was nothing I could do. Mom was in the hands of doctors and nurses I didn't know. I yearned for someone to care for her the way she'd always cared for others, with kindness and love. Please, God, I prayed, please send Mom the right person to look after her. I hadn't eaten all day. I got up from my place by her bedside, walked down the hall to the cafeteria and picked up some soup. Across the room I saw a nurse getting her fork and napkin from the counter. Something in her face caught my attention. Who is that? Then it hit me. Angie Pawlowski. My treasured babysitter way back from when our kids were little. They loved to have her come over and play, and my husband and I never worried, knowing they were in such great hands. "Angie," I said, giving her a big hug, "how are you? It's been years!" "Why are you here?" she asked. "My Mom's in the hospice room," I said, feeling my eyes welling with tears. "It's your Mom in the hospice room?" she said softly. "Oh, Wanda, I'm the one caring for her." That's when I knew. God had answered me before I'd even asked, providing the perfect care for my mother's last days. Yes, we were both in God's hands. By Wanda Rosseland, Circle, Montana Source: Guideposts, Copyright (c) March 2007, http://www.guideposts.org ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: I was planning a career in biology but was not looking forward to taking chemistry. The professor, though, made the course interesting with his many small chemical explosions and crazy chemistry quizzes. Once, he posed the question: “What in the world isn't chemistry?” and offered a prize to the student who correctly answered. A couple of weeks passed. Finally, he announced in class that he had a winner. A student had gone to his office to ask if she could try her hand at the question. “'What in the world isn't chemistry?'” she asked. “My relationship with my last boyfriend... that wasn't chemistry.” By default, she won. Submitted by Lorraine ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: Inside every older person is a younger person - wondering what the happened. Submitted by Dorie ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: Names like Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods roll from the lips of those who talk about golf’s premier event, the Masters. One name that will probably never surface in a conversation about golfing legends is Doug Ford. Few people would have any idea that Ford won the 1957 Masters. He never won another green jacket and he hasn’t made the cut since 1971 (four years before Tiger Woods was born), but he is invited to play in the Masters every year. The Masters’ rules include a lifetime invitation to every champion of the event. Ford only won the tournament once, hasn’t qualified with his golf skills in nearly three decades, and hasn’t been able to break par in the event since 1958. Nonetheless, he gets to play in the tournament every year because on one single occasion he won the jacket. Our salvation is similarly linked to a single event. Christ’s work on the cross was a one shot deal. He died once so that all could live eternally. Source: Houston Chronicle, April 10, 1998, p. 1B http://www.chron.com/ Submitted by Malladi Murthy in India