Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

The newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness throughout the world.

Hearts and Humor – A Michael Smith Column

May 28, 2007

       Hello, Gang.
   
    For those of you celebrating Memorial Day weekend
I pray you have a safe and happy one.

    Ginny and I are celebrating a special day today.
You'll read all about it below, in a story I reworked and
added to.

    Today is our third anniversary. What a wonderful
three years its been. At the bottom is a link for you
to see our very short wedding.

    This afternoon we had lunch at a place on the Jersey side
of the Hudson River, with a view of the upper west side.
They had a DJ playing soft music. I snuck away and
asked him to say a message to Ginny. I asked him
to say, "Ginny, thank you for three wonderful years
of marriage. I promise you many more."

    I then asked him to play "What a Wonderful World"
by Louie Armstrong. I held Ginny's hand, and to the
thrill of those sitting near us, I sang my version
along with Louie - I sing it well.

    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'd Love your comments.
Send them to: msmith4@nj.rr.com

    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


    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


                          Completely

    A man bumped my shoulder. "Sorry!" he called out and
rushed on, pulling his suitcase behind him.

    "Would Mr. Hadwell please call the information desk?"
A lady's voice blared from overhead speakers.

    I ignored it all. My eyes focused on the arrival board.
Flight CO3065 was on the ground and approaching the gate.
My heart pounded in my chest. My palms sweated. "She's finally
here." I whispered and checked my reflection in a nearby
window - a little overweight and balding. "Will she like
what she sees? Will she accept me?"

    I felt silly. A few days before, she'd emailed me:

        How did this happen so fast? I don't know, and I
        can't answer that and don't want to. Why question
        it? It happened; I love it; and I love you. All I
        know is that I now have someone in my life who
        loves me for me, someone who makes me feel special,
        someone who makes feel like I count, someone who
        wants nothing but to make me happy. I feel I have
        found someone who will talk to me, share all things
        with me - good or bad, will allow me to be the
        person I am, and be what I want to be. Still not
        clear on what I want to be yet, but I do have a start.
       
        You are so special. I love you for being you. Babe,
        I don't care if you gained 20 pounds, 30, 40......I
        love YOU Michael.( Do you care if I call you that? I
        love the name) We all have our self doubts about
        ourselves. How we look. You say I'm beautiful, but
        you haven't seen it all. I have stretch marks. When
        I sit, I see the beginnings of a spare tire around
        my waist. (I keep it there in case I get a flat). I
        have lines on my face and around my eyes that I cover
        with lots of makeup.  I could go on, but I won't. Hon,
        when you come to me on that morning, if you still
        want me, God Bless you. You will see me at my worst -
        accept when my hair is wet. I look like a drowned rat
        then. I pray you can see around all this and still
        see the person that I am.
   
    Tears streamed down my cheeks as I read the last words. She
didn't understand. I emailed her back.

    "I love you for your heart and your humor. The marks we
have are signs of life. We all have scars. Some are external
and some our internal. They signify our journey and the ruts
we bounced over. At my age, I know what I want in a mate. You
are it. I want someone to love me, someone to make me laugh,
and someone I can talk endlessly with. I want to hold a hand
and take a walk. I want that hand to be yours."

    I looked at my reflection again. I had the same fears she
did. It was silly of me.

                *********************

    We met in a support group for young widows and widowers.
The group had a chat room, where we gathered to support each
other in our grief. Surprisingly, there was a lot of laugher.
It was a chance for us to forget our loss, restore our sense
of humor, and attempt to bring order into our lives again.

    One lady in the group made me laugh more than any other
member. Her and I bantered back-and-forth, trying to outdo
the other. My son thought I was strange. "Dad,what are you
laughing at?"

    "My group!"

    "Dad, you need to get out and meet some friends." He
walked up the stairs.

    "These are my friends!" I yelled at him.

    One night a member posted, "I had a bad day. The tears
wouldn't stop flowing. I miss him so much!"

    My friend posted her phone number. "If you need to talk,
call me."

    I stared at her number. Would she let me call her? I
sent her a private message. "Is that your real number?"

    "Yes."

    "Can I call you sometime?"

    "Sure!"

    It was the beginning of a wonderful thing. We talked
every free moment we had. Two months later, I stood at the
arrival gate in the Newark airport. The woman I knew by heart
and through pictures approached me. "Michael?"

    "Ginny?"

    We stepped into each others arms. I held her tight. "I
finally get to hold you." I whispered in her ear.

    We collected her bags. In the car I leaned to her. "Ginny,
I've dreamed of this moment for a long time." I pulled her in
my arms, placed my lips on hers, and kissed her deeply. Her body
melted into mine, as she returned my love.

    On the drive to my home, I held her hand. At every stop
light, I kissed her.

    Ginny later wrote:

          He was nervous and I wasn't. No one could believe that I
      was flying from North Carolina to New Jersey to meet someone
      I met over the internet. I knew I wasn't flying to just "meet
      someone". I knew I was flying to my future. As I walked through
      the gate, I knew him immediately. During that first hug, I knew
      that I had come home. It felt so right.
     
          It still is. We counted the days we had actually been
      together before we got married. 30 days. That's it. There are a
      lot of people who can't believe we got married so soon and they
      just don't understand.
     
          I asked God to bring someone into my life. Someone to love
      me completely and I could love completely...no holds barred.
      My prayers were answered.

    My prayers were answered too. Four months later, on May 27, 2004,
we drove to Jersey City with two friends, jumped on the subway, and
walked a few blocks to City Hall. At the door, a guard informed us,
"I'm sorry. We're closed for a terrorist drill. If you want, you can
take the train to the City Hall in Brooklyn.

    The four of us took off. A terrorist drill would not alter our
plans. We were on a mission. The train was crowded. The four of us
clung to the handrails. People pushed against us. Everyone sweated
in the heat. I put my arm around Ginny, as a voice rose above the
clatter of the rails. It drifted through the car like the scent of a
rose and filled our ears with a touch of heaven.

    At the next stop, the crowd thinned, and revealed an old, grey-
haired, black man. His frail body and tattered clothes, contradicted
his angelic voice. He stood in the rear corner and treated us with
his songs. He didn't beg, like others who sang in the subway. He
just sang for the joy of singing.

    He got off at the same stop we did and began to walk in the
opposite direction of us. I stopped Ginny. "One second." I said.
I rushed after the old man. "Sir!" He didn't hear me. I reached
his side and touched his shoulder. "Sir?" I repeated. He turned
and smiled at me. "Sir, thank you. Your singing was wonderful."
I pressed five dollars into his hand.

    He gripped my hand firmly. "Thank you." He looked me in the
eye. I saw love and compassion in those dark pools.

    "No, I thank you. My friend and I are going to be married in
a few hours. Your singing was a sign from heaven. Through you,
God gave us his blessing."

    "It was my pleasure." He looked at the money. "And thank you
too." He smiled one more time, turned and walked away.

    A few minutes later, we were in the court house. A line of
couples stretched in front of us. A great number of them looked
like they were marrying on a whim.

    After a long wait, we reached the counter, were handed papers,
told to fill them out, and wait to be called.

    Forty-five minutes later we heard our names called. They took
our information and handed us more documents and sent us back to
the end of the first line. We got to the end, where told they gave
us the wrong paperwork and were directed back to the last line
we were in.

     One lady passed in-and-out of the doors to the chapel many
times. On our third attempt to get all the paperwork she walked up
to us. "I've been watching you two. I can tell you are sincere. Don't
worry. I'll see that you're married today."

    A few minutes later we were told to enter the chapel. The lady
who said she'd see us married that day, turned out to be our minister.
We stood in front of her, said our vows and were pronounced man and
wife.

Michael T. Smith

    If you want to view a short video of our wedding, go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz3IZFoSb9I

    Ginny has a favorite song. She used the words on a card she
gave me on our third anniversary. It's sung by Diamond Rio and is
called, "Completely."

You can read the words below.

    You can listen to a clip here from the song at this link:
http://music.aol.com/artist/diamond-rio/1587/album/completely/595160
Scroll down to the song, "Completely."

Here are the words:
Completely, wanna give my love completely
Id rather be alone than be in love just half the way
I want to find someone that I can trust
Completely, wanna give my heart completely
To someone who'll completely give their heart to only me
And when I find that one
That's when I'll fall in love

Chorus
Completely
Not half but whole
With heart and soul
Completely
Not in between
But everything
Completely
That's the way its gotta be
The way I want someone to fall in love with me

Forever wanna feel the word forever
And know there'll be somebody there forever by my side
And when that feeling comes
That's when Ill give my love

Repeat chorus

It's all or nothing at all for this heart of mine
And I wont give up this heart till the day I find
Someone who needs me

Repeat chorus
The way I need someone to fall in love with me

     Inside the card she wrote:
Michael
    Not only did I find someone who is COMPLETELY in
love with me as I am with them, but someone who
COMPLETES me. I love you with every inch of my being.
Thank you for loving me.
    Always and Forever
    Ginny

    The card I gave her has a picture of a couple
embracing on a park bench. The words are simple and
tell exactly how I feel:
    Yesterday,
    Today,
    and Tomorrow.

    So many beautiful reasons to love you.

    Happy Anniversary

    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/

REMOVE THE SPACES TO GET TO THE SITE. SPAM BLOCKERS ARE

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GREAT STORIES.


    As promised, here is a list of great inspirational sites.

I subscribe to all of them. You will love these sites.


Run by my friend Carol, Storytime Tapestry at:

http://archives.zinester.com/98907/

Here's a new one that crosssed my path today:
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/

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.

Now for some comments from last weeks story:

Hi Michael -
 
I am a fair bit behind in my reading and so just finished this one -
this moment - with tears streaming down my cheeks. Such a wonderful
testament to both women.

I too lost my mother - 12 years ago now - but think of her, and her
love - daily.

As always - Thank You for a lovely story.

Vivian

********************

Michael,

Just wanted to say thank you.  I loved your story and the link.  
I'm so happy Carol helped me find this special place.

Love, Peace and Joy,

Pam

********************