Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

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

April 26, 2008

 Today’s Announcement

Call for submissions:  Storytime Tapestry is in need of more stories, please keep them coming in.

Help support the continued running of Storytime Tapestry join me on mylot and get paid while we talk to each other and others all over the world:  http://www.mylot.com/?ref=winterose  if the link doesn’t work just cut and paste

From my son Steven Roach:

I was thinking you should advertise the link regularly in your newsletter if the link doesn’t work just cut and paste

 
http://greenhorse.com/join_now.ghc?r=177952857
 
tell them it would help support the newsletter and they can earn money from it. They need to sign up and install it but they don't need to do anything else. They just do what they normally would anyways on the net and they earn money while it’s on. In other words they just keep it running while they are online. It’s small doesn't take up much system resources and they can earn more if they advertise their own link and get people under them as well. Let them know some people make 5-10$ a day on it and its been open since 2002. 

Don’t forget to order your copy of Angels Watching Over Me, the story of an ordinary woman facing less than ordinary challenges.  Angels Watching Over Me is a story of family love, sacrifices, poverty and an undying faith that makes heroes out of all of us. Here is the link in case you have forgotten it: http://www.lulu.com/content/964306

Important notice: Storytime Tapestry is a free e-zine, however donations are always needed to help with the operating expenses of running the newsletter and to keep Storytime Tapestry the quality newsletter you are so accustomed to.   You can make your donations to paypal at: winterose@videotron.ca, or if you would prefer to use the mail system contact the publisher at the same email address: winterose@videotron.ca

 ~**~**~

Spelling Lessons

By

Pamela Perry Blaine

“That was really stupid.” I said out loud as I was reading over something I had written down incorrectly.

“We don’t say that word, Mom,” my son, Jeremy, quickly informed me as his little daughter was playing on the floor with her dollhouse. 

That was really obtuse.”  I quickly rephrased my words as I dredged up a vocabulary word from my high school days.

“Thanks, Mom, now she’s going to be telling people that they are O-B-T-U-S-E”, he spelled.

“S-O-R-R-Y” I mischievously spelled back to him and then thought better of it because that is probably one word that doesn’t get used enough anymore.

Jeremy seems to have taken a sudden interest in spelling lately.  For example, I hear him saying such things as: “I H-A-T-E it when that happens”,  “In this game you have to K-I-L-L the monsters with lasers” and “This D-U-M-B thing isn’t working!”

But what I want to know is when did this metamorphosis occur?  What happened to the little boy who used to terrorize his older sisters without firing off a single spelled word?  How often did I hear one of his sisters say, “Mom, He called me an idiot again!”

It’s really not so difficult to figure out this mysterious change.  It began when Jeremy married his college sweetheart, Katie, and then a couple of years later I watched as my son carried his new baby girl, Tessa, out of the delivery room. 

When Tessa came into the world, at that moment everything changed. It is beautiful to behold the transformation in another person, especially our own children. 

As Jeremy’s mother, it was a little like a flashback to the time when he was born. The change happens because of an overwhelming love that wants to protect such a precious little one from the evils in the world.  Suddenly, everything we say or do is evaluated in light of the effect it has or might have on the child.

For our family this way of thinking is a standard that has been passed down by our ancestors for who knows how many generations.  There are several reasons for it.  The first one is that watching our words is a biblical commandment. “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord your God in vain”.  This means not to misuse the name of God.  His name should only be said in reverence and awe and never used as an expletive or curse, nor should it be dropped as a casual word into our sentences. There is also the instruction, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”  There is a children's song that very simply explains this way of thinking:

“Oh be careful little *mouth what you *say.
Oh be careful little *mouth what you *say.
For the Father up above, is looking down in love,
So be careful little mouth what you say”

Other Verses:

*ears what you hear

*eyes what you see

*feet where you go

To speak or to spell, is that the question?  Perhaps if we would strive to say only things that are beneficial, we wouldn’t have to spell.  Besides, grandchildren are very smart these days and it’s only a matter of time until I hear my little granddaughter say, “Daddy, this D-U-M-B thing isn’t working”.

By

Pamela Perry Blaine

© April 11, 2008

Pamela lives in Missouri and writes "Pam's Corner" for her local newspaper.  Many stories have been published in magazines, newspapers, and books.  She is church pianist and has a CD of songs she has written.  Her goal is to write to encourage and to preserve family history for her children. 

Pam’s website: 

 http://www.blaines.us/PamyPlace.htm
 pamyblaine@blaines.us

Poetry Corner

~**~**~

   Are You Valuable?

Conrad S. Cardinal

Wisdom should be the reward for
growing old.
Many think it should be gold.

Of all your experiences, which
has the most value?
Helped to you realize what you
should do?

What kind of person should you
be?
Has something happened to help
you see?

Do you agree, wisdom may be
defined as knowing what’s right?
Being able to set priorities and
keeping them in sight.

When it is finished, what is the
measure of you my friend?
Is it riches, possessions or how
you’re thought of at the end?

Conrad
                  cconseth@aol.com

 ~**~**~    
 

~**~**~

  Mailbox

Here is our Storytime Tapestry Angels: Also, I would like to thank those of you who chose to be a silent angel and gave an anonymous donation to keep Storytime Tapestry up and running.

Clara Westerfer, Mark Crider, Rosanne Catalano, Paula Booher, Kay Seefeldt, Mariane Holbrook, Mary Ellen Grisham, Louise Nomani, Sharon Bryant, Angela Walker, Hart and Helen Dowd, Keith Ready, Ginger Morgenstern, Ellie Braun-Haley, Surinder Jandu, Bob Shaw, Carol Meeks, Charlotte Hilliard, Marilyn Sink, Victor Buhagiar, Clarice Hinson, Conrad