It was a beautiful fall day!We
call it ???raining??™ leaves because they are falling from the
trees so abundantly. The leaves were turning from their
glorious gold and red colors, allowing the trees to get
ready for their wintertime dormancy.
Brooke, our three year-old
granddaughter, and I decided to walk to the lake a couple of
houses down in our cove. We had such a good time. Brooke
went up and down the slide. I pushed her high in the
swing. Her melodious voice rang out in happy song. And
then she looked at me and said, ???Grandma, this is the best
day I ever had.??? With much gratefulness and a heart full of
joy I thanked God for this time with my granddaughter.
Our neighbor who lives in one of the
houses by the lake came out to feed the ducks. Now, on this
lake there are many large geese, several huge swans, and a
few small ducks. When she said she was going to feed the
ducks, I thought this is going to be interesting. Those few
tiny ducks won??™t get much of that food with all those other
huge birds around.
To my astonishment she began to call
the ducks with a simple, ???Come on, come on ducks.???
Here they came, some from the far
side of the lake. But, they had heard those words, ???come
on???.
Pretty soon they were pitter pattering
up the bank of the lake. Their mistress began to spread
food on the ground in front of them. Brooke and I watched
in amazement as those ducks began to eat there on the edge
of the lake. As soon as the geese and swans saw what was
happening, they began their clamoring to get to that food.
But, before they reached it the ducks had gotten their
share. That would not have been possible if the big birds
had started eating first.
Soon, I could tell Brooke was getting
tired and it was time for us to leave all of this fall
beauty and go home.
???Come on???, I called to Brooke and she
came running!
Her little short legs had gone about
as far as they could go, but those two simple words ???come
on??? were all she needed to hear. We returned slowly home,
tired but delightfully happy.
I prayed I would forever let those
ducks be a lesson to me. Whether it be the luscious new
life found in the green colors of spring, or the glorious
opulence of fall that Brooke and I enjoyed that day, when I
hear God speaking to my spirit, I want to go running! With
a smile like Brooke??™s when her grandma uttered those two
simple words ???come on???.
(c) Melva Cooper
jmelva @ cox-internet.com
Re: The Seeds of Racism, Prejudice
andDiscrimination
Very good insights on Carol's part,
especially considering her age at the time.
Nancee Donovan
*** *** *** *** *** ***
Re: Beware Of The Games That You
Play
How terribly sad. That brings tears
to my eyes. I was raised in NH and we were not aware of
prejudice like that as there were only a few black people in
our town (two families that I remember). One family was in
our church and we all loved them and felt blessed by their
presence. The other family had children, too. One of the
girls wrote our "high school song" back in the '40s which we
sing to this very day at all of our special high school
activities.
Too bad that 17-yr. old teacher
could not have been made aware of her mistake and used this
as a real learning experience for those children by
apologizing to them and making them aware of how people get
feelings hurt by words. I'm sure that black mother was
trying to do the only thing she knew that was best for her
child; in retrospect, it could
have been handled better, I think.
Nancee D.
*** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Re: Beware Of The Games That You
Play
Hi Bob,
ARE the stories you feature ALL
going to be for the contest? I have one suggestion...some
of these stories are just too long. Maybe you should put a
900 word limit on them. As an Author I don't like word
limits, but for some people, you have got to use them! I
know of two other gals who often don't read STARFISH because
of the story length. And of course we have our favorite
authors. But if they were shorter, it would be more of a
challenge for the writer, believe me! And you would hold
more attention from the audience. Just a suggestion. Hope
you are having a good week!
Blessings,
Diane
(No, not all stories will be contest
entries, but the first 7 of the month are. After that,
contest entries will be interdispersed with ???regular??™
submissions. Regarding limiting length, a recent survey
indicated that the majority of respondents didn??™t want a
limitation.
Bob)
*** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Bob,
I enjoy your stories so much...keep up the good work.
Rita C
*** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Re: Bad Girl
Carol's story serves to remind me
that whatever I speak should be words of kindness,
especially to small, impressionable children. I work with
first graders, helping them learn to read, and I try to give
them lots of encouragement and smiles. Carol's story is
sad. I wish that every teacher had a great love for the
children they work with. Teaching is an act of dedication
and this is evident in the pay most teachers receive! I
used to think that teachers should be financially
compensated for their work, but maybe then people would go
into the profession for the money and not for the love of
teaching.
I'm just glad Carol had a loving
grandmother to go to and she was able to put this bad
experience behind her. We do learn from (not only) our
mistakes, but the mistakes others make with us. Carol is a
great example of this; she helps by writing of her own
experiences and maybe others will learn from her. Too bad
the teacher felt the need to treat Carol that way.
Nancee
*** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Re: Room 10, Carol Roach
I just loved, Room 10, by Carol
Roach. It was so real and down to earth, about everyday true
life experiences, like most of her wonderful stories. I
really enjoyed it.
Sincerely,
Barbara Weymouth
*** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Re: Home Is Where You Leave Your
Heart
Hi Bob
For Margo Fallis:
I do not often write back re
stories, but I am the type who loves the beauty which I
found in her story. I, too, have left my heart in many
places and in many periods of time. If you could connect us,
I would like to discuss this with her. God bless all of you
and Margo. Vance
*** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Re: A Child's View of Summer
I just love everything Norma
writes. So much of it sure brings back happy memories for
me. God Bless her and her writing for people like me to
enjoy.
Georgeanne
*** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Re: The Summer of HMMMMM
When I was a little girl I lived in
the poor part of the City and I would gather locusts off the
trees and every other place they were. They would still be
in their shells. I'd carefully put them in a cigar box with
grass and sticks and watch them come out of their shells.
Then I'd watch them dry and let them fly away. A poor
child, no I felt wonderful with "my friends."
Donna B.
*** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Re: Be careful what games you Play
Dear Mr Bob Johnston,
I am always so impressed with the stories you get and they
inspire me to send them on to others. This one about "Being
careful what games you play" really hit home with me too.
I had a best friend in school named
Ernestine in 3rd grade. Wow that would be back when I was
9. It was not playing the game that made me remember, but
the fact that the color of someone??™s skin could make a
difference to people. For me it made no difference.
I was raised to always be fair and
live by the golden rule, even though my parents did not
always do the same. Something inside of me never let go of
the word fair "If it is good for me then is good for all."
I don't just speak it, I live it and
it is so wonderful to see stories like this to spread around
to remind all to of us to follow the golden rule. "Do unto
others what you would have done unto you"
Thank You Mr Johnston. Pleas pass my
letter onto Carol Roach who is one off the good guys too.
Shirley
just because you can't see the air,
doesn't mean you should stop breathing.
just because you can't see God ,
doesn't mean you should stop believing.
*** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Blessings to you. Have a great
weekend and a fantastic week ahead.
Bob Johnston
|
