Greetings, Ripplemakers

Anthony's Halloween Surprise
by
Dorothy Casper

Halloween has never been my favorite holiday.  Growing up all the neighbor kids were dressed in ghoulish costumes while I had to be a fairy princess or ballet dancer with a small black or white mask which barely covered my face.  My brother Bill was a cowboy or some such character. Everyone knew who we were.  But my mother just couldn??™t bring herself to make us look scary she often explained.

Marriage and 4 children and living in a small town where everyone loved Halloween I had to change my attitude somewhat.  I found myself making costumes of all kinds,  ???This Old House,??? - an idea from a Rosemary Clooney song - a Robot, the Headless Horseman and yes, some pretty ones too, such as the Statue of Liberty for my daughter. And, I wasn??™t really a Halloween scrooge- I  prepared every year to have enough treats ready when the door bell rang and I found smiling faces under masks and hands outstretched and the sound of Trick or Treat echoing through the air.

Many years have gone by and the area where we now live we have few Trick or Treaters.  But last year as we were visiting with some friends after dinner a few days before the October holiday we had a most unusual Halloween visitor. I was once again taught a beautiful lesson by a child on my most disliked holiday.

We saw headlights pull into the driveway. Comments were made, wondering why the door bell had not rung so I quietly eased over to the front door and slowing opened the door just enough to hear voices from a car giving instructions which were not being heeded. 

??? Anthony, set the paper and the plate by the door, ring the door bell and run!???  ???HURRY, OR THEY WILL SEE YOU! ???. It was easy to see and hear the older sister getting frustrated when the Halloween surprise was not going the way it was planned.

As I stood listening at the door, I heard the little boy??™s voice very adamantly state, ???No, please, I just want to see their happy faces.??? 

 I summoned my husband and friends to come over closer as I quickly jerked the door open. Although somewhat startled the  5 year old boy maintained his big smile which we often describe as ???from ear to ear ??? proudly holding a one layer beautifully decorated chocolate cake.  And though barely audible we heard  ???Trick or Treat???. With the cake he had a picture of a ghost instructing us to do a good deed for someone for Halloween. 

Needless to say he saw big smiles from 4 happy adults. After he and his sister drove away the rest of our evening was spent discussing the joy he had brought to us. He reminded each of us that doing a good turn created happiness even on a so-called scary holiday. The look on his face was reminiscent to me once again that real joy comes from ???Giving.??? But as the receivers, we will be full of Joy each time we think of young Anthony Webster.

Dorothy Casper ??“ cas4u @ infowest.com
---------------------------------------------------

Dorothy has often commented that ???Life is wonderful in spite of it??™s many trials, Each person we meet teach us wonderful lessons.???   ???I can hardly wait to see what I will learn from one day to another and who my wonderful teacher might be.??? 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May you be blessed today.
Bob Johnston
Editor / Publisher

From the Mailbag

Bob,
I LOVE RIPPLEMAKER  As I said I love your whole concept and especially the daily dose in my inbox. Please have a wonderful weekend because you always make everyday wonderful for so many others.
Warmest regards,
bette    
*** *** *** *** *** *** ***

Re: Goodbye Maurice 

What a great story Goodbye Maurice is!  I'm glad Al got a new car, he deserves it!!
Diane
*** *** *** *** *** *** ***

Goodbye Maurice was a great one! How true!
Kathy W.
*** *** *** *** *** *** ***

Re: Fishing for Bullheads 

Al,
I love to read your stories and always get a good laugh out of them b ut the bull head story almost made me gag. ha ha keeping worms in his mouth to keep them warm was a bit too much for me and I am an avid fisher woman. yuk yuk yuk. But it was funny. Keep e'm coming.
thanks,
Nanci Stroupe
*** *** *** *** *** *** ***

OH!! come on Al!!  We always kept the worms warm in a pail with the dirt they were dug up in!  I do agree fishing is a relaxing way to make memories. My Dad was an avid fishermen, we even went ice fishing in the middle of the lake as a youngster.  Today I can't tell you the names of the fish or how many we caught, but I know a lot about my Dad when he was a kid.  What a sweet memories!!  Cute story!
Diane
*** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Re: Possum Hide and Seek

Dear Loren, I love to read your stories, especially the latest one about the Possums, it brought back memories of our last visit to Tennessee. My husbands Uncle Ralph had a big dog, don't remember its name but it also got a hold of a  mama possum one    morning and she was just like y ou said, shaking that thing like a rag doll and the babies were flying helter skelter all over the place, being the sentimentalist I am, I cried for the little critters no matter how ugly they were, I could not imagine their future with out their mama. and she was surely dead..  the little 'uns ran up into the field where Uncle Ralph kept his sheep and they cried and cried for their mama. Uncle Ralph explained there was nothing we could do but I continued to cry for their loss and after about twelve hours or so the crying stopped and I knew they were all gone. It was a sad learning experience for me. I who had nursed smalll birds back to    health and anything else I could save was not able to save these small creatures. I believe it was sad even for our Creator for He knows when a sparrow falls. Keep up the good work.
Nanci Stroupe
*** *** *** *** *** *** ***

Re:  The Pilot 

Enjoyed Al's story on the airport.  It was timely as I'm leaving in the morning for another country.  I have to change planes twice and I've already checked airport layouts.  Sure enough, in the largest airport our terminals are at completely opposite ends.  I think they do plan it that way.
Marsha Jakubiak
*** *** *** *** *** *** ***

I can't stop laughing at this one.  It is right up there with the best from Al!
Diane White
 

Important Subscription Information

To subscribe to this newsletter:
{Click Here}
________________________________________________

To Cancel your subscription:
Send an e-mail to Starfish@Ripplemaker.com with "Cancel HTML" in the subject
__________________________________________________

To send a message to the editor/publisher:
write to Starfish@Ripplemaker.com
 

HTTP://www.Ripplemaker.com