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February18, 2006 - Hearts and Humor - I Thought I Was The Only Balloon >> |
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This is a special issue of Hearts and Humor. I usually only send one story a week, but today is a special day. I pray you all have someone to love today. Last Saturday, Ginny and I spent the afternoon in New York City. We took a carriage ride in Central Park. I won the ride in a love letter contest last year. There is a gentleman who wants to spread love around the world. His name is Henri Zimand. In memory of his wife, who passed away due to breast cancer, he sponsored a love letter contest. Out of 5,000 letters, I came in 15th. Last spring, Ginny and I attended an awards breakfast ceremony in Manhattan. We met Mr. Zimand and the top 20 winners. The couple who won 1st prize had a love letter that made everyone in the room cry. She is a breast cancer survivor. When she was in the hopital recovering, her husband wrote the letter. It was beautiful. They won a one week trip to Monaco, where they stayed at one of the top hotels in the world. This year Mr. Zimand spread the contest around the world. Today they flew the winners in for an awards ceremony in NYC. At this time, I have not heard who the winners are. You can find out at http://www.loveanda.com/ I entered several letters to the contest last year. Here are all of them: Blessed My wife passed away in October 2003 from complications brought on by years of alcohol abuse. I joined an on-line support group for widows and widowers and met a wonderful woman - Ginny. Her husband had died from the same symptoms caused by alcohol abuse. In May of 2004 she moved from Charlotte, NC to New Jersey to be my wife. I have never been so happy. During the summer after we married, we spent a lot of time on our deck reading. One day a memory returned to me. Many years ago, when I was in my early teens, my dad was in the hospital to have a lump removed from his neck. Across the room from him was a man. We were visiting my dad one day, when this man's wife came to visit. They kissed, she pulled up a chair, and they talked for a few minutes. Soon they both opened their books, and for an hour were completely content to just be together, no words were needed. They took great comfort in just being together. After an hour or so, they closed their books, talked for a few minutes, kissed and she was gone. This happened about 30 years ago, and the memory comes back to me often. I remember thinking, "That is the kind of relationship I want." Quite a thought for a kid in his mid teens, however, I knew that was what I would like in a relationship. Ginnny and I spend a lot of time out on the deck reading. The other day we were reading, our feet sharing a stool, and no words being spoken. Once in a while I would look up and say, "Gin, time for an 'I love you break', She would look up, I would say, "I love you, sweetie, and now back to our story." and I would read again. A smile came to my face when I realized I have the relationship I dreamed about 30 years ago. I have been blessed. Ginny inspires me to write poetry, something I hardly ever do. My heart is filled with feelings for my new wife. I have to write them. Here are two: And That's You When Life's storms raged with cold, snowy winds, There appeared someone special, warming my heart. And that's you. A life of winter had descended, But a new spring came, bright green hope. And that's you When death's ugly shadow cast deep, dark gloom, An angel swooped down New life And that's you. Life's choices, a series of doors. Sometimes we choose, sometimes we're pushed. New door opened; the path was clear. And that's you. Ginny, you are my warmth, my hope, my life and my path. I love you and thank you for coming into my life. Dear Lord Every day I look at her Every day I see her Every day I feel her love Every day I reach out, hold her, look to the sky and wonder what I did in life to deserve her. At night I hold her in my arms At night I feel her warmth At night I hear her heart beat. At night hold her hand, shed a tear of joy, look to the sky and wonder what I did in life to deserve her. All week I feel such joy All week I melt with every thought of her All week I look forward to being near her again All week I think of her, wait to be close her, crave her nearness, look to the sky and wonder what I did in life to deserve her. In all my life have I known such happiness? In all my life have I known such joy? In all my life have I known such love? In all my life have I known my Ginny? I look to the sky and wonder, what I did right in life to deserve her. Thank you Lord I love you, Ginny. Michael NOW FOR THE LETTER THAT WON MY THE CARRIAGE RIDE FEATHERED FIDELITY It's a sad reality. All relationships start with love and promise, but all too often we see them weaken, crumble and finally fail. It's too bad all relationships don't go to the birds. I know that sounds strange, but read on. Many years ago, when I was just a young boy, a small yellow bird hit our front door. When I looked outside, I saw its tiny, unmoving body on our deck. I opened the door to see if it was just stunned, or worse, dead. I was kneeling over it when my mom joined me. "Michael, I think it may be dead. I heard the bang on the glass. It hit pretty hard." "Mom, should we bury it?" "I'm not sure, Michael. When I first looked out I saw another bird land beside it. It looked like it was trying to pick this one up. I think we should let nature take care of this. Let's put it on the roof of the car and see what happens." We placed the unmoving, little bird on the roof of my dad's car and went back into the house. From our living room window we watched as the bird's mate flew to its side, carefully grip the back of the dead bird's neck in it's tiny beak, and with a strength only love and devotion could provide, lifted its mate in the air. It carried the body from the car, across the street, over the meadow on the other side and into nearby trees. It flew only a few feet off the ground. Sometimes it would get up to six feet high and then the weight of its companion would pull it lower again. Its struggle was great, but the desire not to be parted from its mate was greater. Thirty-five years later, I stepped out of my home on a warm summer morning. I looked toward my next door neighbor's -- we lived in attached townhouses -- and noticed a single strand of a spider's web strung from the bush by the corner of their townhouse to the wheel of one of their cars. I thought it was strange for a spider to spin such a web, especially just one tiny strand. I moved closer to investigate. When I reached down to break the web I discovered it wasn't a web at all. It was a piece of fishing line. I gave it a tug and saw it was tangled in the bushes, and the other end was knotted under the car. One of the boys was sitting on the front deck of the house. I remarked, "Looks like someone booby-trapped your friend's car." He came closer to see what I was talking about. I gave the line a tug. It was tightly jammed under the wheel of the vehicle. "Strange, it seems to go all the way under," I said. I walked to the back of the car and saw a robin. It fluttered to get away, but the line, which was wrapped around its tiny leg, held it firm. The poor bird flapped around on the pavement with only a foot of line for it to move. Sowly I approached and reached to grab it. When my fingers first touched his feathers it squawked and flapped away from me. I moved faster on the second attempt and managed to get a grip around his trembling body. It squirmed and twisted its head to snap at me, but I held tight. The boy came closer for a look, and then went for a knife. When he returned I realized he would probably break the poor bird's leg when the knife pulled the string tight before cutting it through, so I sent him for scissors. He came back and we carefully removed the string. The bird was free, but I held him a little longer, so I could remove one last strand of the line from his tiny leg. It made a great effort and escaped from my grasp. He flew low across the pavement, under a row of mailboxes, and up into a tree. It was free again. Then I noticed a second robin fly down from a nearby tree and land next to the newly-freed robin. It had stayed close by, as its mate struggled for freedom, and would not have left until freedom or death ended their relationship. The birds I witnessed mated for life and the struggles that come with it. Now don't you wish a lot more relationships would go to the birds? I know I do. Michael Smith |
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February18, 2006 - Hearts and Humor - I Thought I Was The Only Balloon >> |
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