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| << July22, 2007 - Hearts and Humor - Are You Hiding Under Your Tent |
July29, 2007 - Hearts and Humor - He Was Gone - My Contest Entry >> |
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Hi, Gang! I'm sorry for not posting my mid-week story. Work is a real bear lately. By the time I get home - around 8PM, I'm exhausted. When I tally up my time sheet and add the commute time to it, I'm coming close to 70 hours a week. Today's story is an old one. I hope you enjoy it. Tomorrow I will have something off the wall for you. I'm anxiously waiting for an email. This is my weekend to create a story for the "Writers Weekly 24-Hour Short Story Contest." They are going to send me a paragraph and tell me the maximum word length. I have 24 hours to write a story around the paragragh and have it submitted. Most times I'm up all night working on this. The probem is, you, my wonderful family of readers, usually expect my stories be something to touch your heart or mind. My contest stories tend to be something totally different. I'll post my entry tomorrow along with a warning that the story is not something you'd expect from me and to delete it if you think you may be upset. I'd rather you delete the story than lose you as a member of our group. Comments from last week's story will be included with tomorrow's story. Ginny and I have some running around to do today, so I can't add them right now. If you enjoy a story, feel free to pass it on to your friends. I only ask that you leave the link at the bottom for them to join us. NOTE: IF YOU WISH TO STOP RECEIVING MY STORIES, PLEASE USE THE UNSUBSCRIBE LINK BELOW. PLEASE DO NOT MARK ME AS SPAM. MY STORIES ARE ONLY SENT TO THOSE WHO SUBSCRIBE TO MY EZINE. I Love your comments. Send them to: msmith4@nj.rr.com If anyone is interested in greeting cards, Ginny belongs to a group of artists. They've teamed together to market their products. Check them out at: http://www.etsygreetings.blogspot.com Ginny's cards and other crafts are at: http://www.ginginsgoodies.etsy.com Be sure to check out my collection of inspirational sites at the end. There's something for everyone. Now for today's story. Just Imagine Ginny and I married in May of 2004. In the process, I gained a new son, daughter and four grandsons - instant grandpa. I met my new son, Brandon, a few months before we married., but I never had the chance to meet Ginny's daughter, Heather, and Heather's three small boys. Over the July 4th holiday of 2005, I got to meet them for the first time. Heather, separated from her husband. She needed a place to stay. Ginny and I flew to Oklahoma to drive them back to New Jersey to live with us. It took a day for my new grandsons to warm up to me. The first day they stared at me, wondering what they were suppose to do with this man, who they were told is "grandpa." I waited patiently. I knew boys like to play. They'd come to me in their own time. On the second day, the oldest two were doing summersaults over my lap. The youngest, Ben, took a little longer, but a few days later he raced me across the yard thirty times and won the race every time. That weekend brought back memories of my own childhood. We had such imaginations. In our minds: a tree was a tower to spot approaching bad guys; a big rock became mountain; a fallen log was a space ship, headed to the stars. We had toys, but we had to use our minds, not like the new toys I see my grandkids with. Our toys didn't talk. If they did, you pulled a string to make it work. We had blocks to build, crayons to create, and trucks and cars to push. They were simple toys that required imagination. I thought about the toys in my garage, the ones my children outgrew. They're simple and needed their imagination to work. "Mr. Potato Head" allowed them to learn the parts of the body and giggle at the funny face with an ear where it's mouth should be. I still have an old plastic phone. It has a dial to turn, a bell that rings when you push a button, and that's it. It doesn't talk, squawk, beep or move around the room. It was used when they played house, nurse, doctor, and secretary. I have a toy doctor's bag, with all the plastic doctor's tools. I remember the broken bones, cuts, bangs, scratches and aches my daughter repaired, as I lay in her office moaning. Toys today do it all. Kids don't need imagination. It comes in a box. There are videogames that take us into other worlds; talking toys, with vocabularies better than most people; and computerized toys to teach the alphabet. Kids sit and have imagination brought to them. The teaching toys are great, but children tire of them. It's like being in school. When my son was young and tired of his toys, he'd come to me, "Dad, I'm bored." "Go find something to do." I'd replied. "I don't know what to do." "Go outside and find a friend." "Naaa! I don't want to do that." "Use your imagination." "Huh?" What do you mean?" he asked. "Well, when I was young......" You know the routine. Sports is the same. We're entertained for hours, watching someone else have fun, doing what they are good at. Wouldn't it be better to be playing yourself? If we don't like the sports available to watch, we create new ones. It doesn't matter what, people will pay to see it, because they need to be entertained. I haven't heard of world championship worm digging, but if someone offered a large cash price, people would buy tickets to scream at the contestants. I worry. Are we becoming a society that needs outside influence to have fun? I think I'll go climb a tree. Maybe there's pirate ship on the horizon or someone is attacking my castle. Just imagine? Michael T. Smith If you enjoy a story, feel free to pass it on to your friends. My only request is that you include the link for your friends to join our family. To join our family, go to: http://subs.zinester.com/86758/ As promised, here is a list of great inspirational sites. I subscribe to all of them. You will love these sites. A good friend of mine has a new book out. You should check this out. Carol's been through rough times. She tells it all in her latest book. Carol Roach M.Ed, B.A. Publisher: Storytime Tapestry Author: Angels Watching Over Me:http://www.lulu.com/content/644485 Picking up the Pieces: A Woman's Journey: www.publishamerica.com To join Carol's story site, go to Storytime Tapestry at: http://archives.zinester.com/98907/ From my wonderful writing friend, Jan. She writes wonderful stories about her life and losing her sight. Janet Perez Eckles Faith and Love with a Latin Flair www.janetperezeckles.com Here's a good one by Linda Della Donna Freelance Writer www.littleredmailbox.com www.griefcase.blogspot.com www.storybone.blogspot.com "...and sometime when I wasn't looking, I got a new life." By my good friend Keith in Australia: http://www.agiftofinspiration.com.au/ My friend Phil runs http://www.peoplestuff.com.au/ Phil's awesome and brutally honest Zev, yes another friend, runs http://empoweringmessages.com/stories/ Heart Catchers is a wonderful site. www.DianeDeanWhite.com www.Heartwarmers.com and www.petwarmers.com are two wonderful story sites. http://hodu.com/ http://www.mydailyinsights.com/ www.ripplemaker.com http://www.sermonillustrator.org http://www.SkyWriting.Net Here's a newly discovered one I like: http://www.archive.zinester.com/9516 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WarmFuzzyStories/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WithInSight/ If you, or anyone you know needs prayers for health concerns, struggles,etc visit www.janetperezeckles.com Janet's prayer group will respond. That's all I can think of right now. If I come up with more, I'll add them. Enjoy!!! I love your comments, Send them to msmith4@nj.rr.com. I'll include some in every post. |
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| << July22, 2007 - Hearts and Humor - Are You Hiding Under Your Tent |
July29, 2007 - Hearts and Humor - He Was Gone - My Contest Entry >> |
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