Beautiful graphic, and a sweet and touching message today. Thanks for touching my heart, you two.
Wonderful story. I’d like to see the runners up too.
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“Love is everything. It is the key to life, and its influences are those that move the world.”
— Ralph Waldo Trine
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“When my grandmother got arthritis, she shouldn’t bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That’s love.” Rebecca - age 8
When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.” Billy - age 4
“Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.”
Karl - age 5
“Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.”
Chrissy - age 6
“Love is what makes you smile when you’re tired.” Terri - age 4
“Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.” Danny - age 7
“Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss” Emily - age 8
“Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.” Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)
“If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,” Nikka - age 6
“Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.” Noelle - age 7
“Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.” Tommy - age 6
“During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn’t scared anymore.” Cindy - age 8
“My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don’t see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.” Clare - age 6
“Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.” Elaine-age 5
“Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.”
Chris - age 7
“Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.” Mary Ann - age 4
“I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.” Lauren - age 4
“When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.” (what an image) Karen - age 7
“Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn’t think it’s gross.” Mark - age 6
“You really shouldn’t say ‘I love you’ unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.” Jessica - age 8
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Back when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a boy entered a coffee shop
and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him.
“How much is an ice cream sundae?”
“Fifty cents,” replied the waitress.
The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied a number
of coins in it.
“How much is a dish of plain ice cream?” he inquired.
Some people were now waiting for a table, and the waitress was
impatient.
“Thirty-five cents,” she said angrily.
The little boy again counted the coins. “I'll have the plain ice cream.”
The waitress brought the ice cream and hurried away. The boy finished,
paid the cashier, and departed. When the waitress came back, she swallowed
hard at what she saw. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two
nickels and five pennies — her tip.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“What It Means to Be Adopted”
Teacher Debbie Moon's first graders were discussing a picture of a
family. One little boy in the picture had a different color hair than the
other family members.
One child suggested that he was adopted and a little girl named Jocelynn
Jay said, “I know all about adoptions because I was adopted,”
“What does it mean to be adopted?” asked another child.
“It means,” said Jocelynn, “that you grew in your mommy's heart instead
of her tummy.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Paco Come Home”
In a small town in Spain, a man named Jorge had a bitter argument with
his young son, Paco. The next day Jorge discovered that Paco's bed was
empty - he had run away from home.
Overcome with remorse, Jorge searched his soul and realized that his
son was the most important to him than anything else. He wanted to start
over. Jorge went to a well-known store in the center of town and posted a
large sign that read, “Paco, come home. I love you. Meet me here tomorrow
morning.”
The next morning Jorge went to the store, where he found no less than
seven young boys named Paco who had also run away from home. They were all
answering the call for love, hoping it was their father inviting them home
with open arms.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Rescued”
A little girl whose parents had died lived with her grandmother and
slept in an upstairs bedroom.
One night there was a fire in the house and the grandmother perished
while trying to rescue the child. The fires spread quickly, and the first
floor was engulfed in flames.
Neighbors called the fire department, then stood helplessly by, unable
to enter the house because flames blocked all the entrances. The little
girl appeared at an upstairs window, crying for help, just as word spread
among the crowd that firefighters would be delayed a few minutes because
they were all at another fire.
Suddenly, a man appeared with a ladder, put it up against the side of
the house and disappeared inside. When he appeared, he had the little girl
in his arms. He delivered the child to the waiting arms below, then
disappeared into the night.
An investigation revealed that the child had no living relatives, and
weeks later a meeting was held in the town hall to determine who would take
the child into their home and bring her up.
A teacher said she would raise the child. She pointed out she could
ensure her a good education. A farmer offered her an upbringing on his
farm. He pointed out that living on a farm was healthy and satisfying.
Others spoke, giving their reasons why it was to the child's advantage to
live with them.
Finally, the town's richest resident arose and said, “I can give this
child all the advantages that you have mentioned here, plus money and
everything money can buy.”
Throughout all this, the child remained silent, her eyes on the floor.
“Does anyone else want to speak?” asked the meeting chairman. A man
came forward from the back of the hall. His gait was slow and he seemed in
pain. When he got to the front of the room, he stood directly before the
little girl and held out his arms. The crowd gasped. His hand and arms
were terribly scarred.
The child cried out, “This is the man who rescued me!” With a leap,
she threw her arms around the man's neck, holding on for dear life, just as
she had that fateful night. She buried her face on his shoulder and sobbed
for a few moments. Then she looked up and smiled at him.
“This meeting is adjourned,” said the chairman.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Discouraged?”
As I was driving home from work one day, I stopped to watch a local
Little League baseball game that was being played in a park near my home.
As I sat down behind the bench on the first-baseline, I asked one of the
boys what the score was.
“We're behind 14 to nothing,” he answered with a smile.
“Really,” I said. “I have to say you don't look very discouraged.”
“Discouraged?” the boy asked with a puzzled look on his face. “Why
should we be discouraged? We haven't been up to bat yet.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Roles And How We Play Them”
Whenever I'm disappointed with my spot in my life, I stop and think
about little Jamie Scott. Jamie was trying out for a part in a school play.
His mother told me that he'd set his heart on being in it, though she feared
he would not be chosen. On the day the parts were awarded, I went with her
to collect him after school. Jamie rushed up to her, eyes shining with
pride and excitement. “Guess what Mum,” he shouted, and then said those
words that will remain a lesson to me: “I've been chosen to clap and cheer.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“A Lesson In Heart”
A lesson in “heart” is my little, 10 year old daughter, Sarah, who was
born with a muscle missing in her foot and wears a brace all the time. She
came home one beautiful spring day to tell me she had competed in “field
day”- that's where they have lots of races and other competitive events.
Because of her leg support, my mind raced as I tried to think of
encouragement for my Sarah, things I could say to her about not letting this
get her down-but before I could get a word out, she said,
“Daddy, I won two of the races!”
I couldn't believe it! And then Sarah said, “I had an advantage.”
Ahh. I knew it. I thought she must have been given a head start...
some kind of physical advantage. But again, before I could say anything,
she said,
“Daddy, I didn't get a head start... My advantage was I had to try
harder!”
.
“I just helped him cry”. How much sweeter could that be? So precious, words of a little child.
I’m just touching base a moment. I have a lot of pings to catch up on Monday.
I’ve tried to get a little rest today....didn’t feel like doing much today. We all have days like that!