STORYTIME TAPESTRY

March 12, 2005

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Happy Birthday Virginia Foley

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Now on to the good stuff..........

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Take a Bow, Sparky
by Pamela Jenkins


It was early morning as Sparky and I made our way back to the barn. It was a cool, crisp day, just right for horseback riding.

Sparky was my brother??™s new horse, and I was enjoying my first ride on him. The Paint was a beauty to look at, although he was a bit small. What he lacked in size, he made up for with his personality and willingness to please.

As we neared the barn, I gave Sparky a kick and he started to gallop as fast as his little legs could carry us. We were racing along happily when Sparky did the unexpected. He slammed on his brakes!

I was so taken by surprise that I didn??™t even have time to shout, ???Whoa!??? I went flying through the air and landed in a dusty heap on the hard ground.

Oh, I??™m going to feel this tomorrow, I thought to myself. I opened one eye and looked back at Sparky. He stood at attention with his ears forward, waiting for me to pull myself together. I couldn??™t see a bit of remorse in those big eyes.

I managed to stand up, and brushed the dust off my pants and shirt. My hands were skinned and bruised and I ached all over. ???You ornery old hay-burner??¦??? I began as I walked back toward Sparky.

Then I heard my father??™s voice from the barn. He yelled, ???Now, don??™t hurt the horse!???

Well, that stopped me in mid-stride. Don??™t hurt the horse? How in the world could my father imagine that I could ???hurt??? this huge beast that had just flung me through the air with the greatest of ease? Even more so, if my father had been standing in the barn??™s doorway and witnessed the whole thing, why wasn??™t he worried about me?

???You must have done something to make him stop like that,??? my father said as he walked over and patted the horse on the neck. He reached down and gave Sparky an affectionate pat on the chest, too. What happened next left both of us speechless.

Sparky dropped his head and bent his knees. He extended one front leg and, like a courtly gentleman, gave a bow. My father and I were so surprised that it was several seconds before we burst out laughing.

Sparky??™s past was a mystery. Little was known about the old horse except a vague reference to his former days as a trick pony. As he was passed from one owner to the next, his commands and cues were forgotten by all but Sparky himself. We never knew what surprises he would show us next.

By spending time with Sparky, we found out that he could count to four by pawing the ground. He could bow, pray and sit. He would curl his lip and nod his head up and down. We found out by accident how to make him rear up on his hind legs and were strictly forbidden by our parents to make him perform that feat. Hooves dangling over our heads just seemed too dangerous, even if Sparky was gentle as a lamb with children. Sparky loved people and enjoyed being the center of attention. No other horse could outshine him when it came to the yearly parade in our hometown. Sparky could prance with the best of them.

Sparky also had a weakness ??“ a sweet tooth that couldn??™t be satisfied. His favorite treat was a sugar cube and we made sure we never visited the barn without a few in our pockets. Sparky would nuzzle and smell until he found the hidden sugar and could hardly wait to crunch into its sweetness.

One winter day we were cleaning around the barn, and Sparky was standing nearby enjoying our company. My mother was wearing her new winter coat. It had huge white buttons down the front, and Sparky??™s eyes lit up in wonder at what he must have thought were the biggest sugar cubes he??™d ever seen. Unable to resist the temptation, he trotted over and snagged a button between his long front teeth.

???Oh!??? my mother exclaimed as she tried to move away. Sparky wasn??™t about to give up, and held on with dogged determination. My mother waved her arms while Sparky batted his big brown eyes, but he wouldn??™t let go. Finally, with a pop, the button came off.

Sparky worked the button around in his mouth. We could hear it rattling against his teeth, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn??™t make it taste sweet. In disgust, he spat it out on the ground and laid his ears back. The look he gave us clearly said, ???Now, that was a dirty trick to play!???

Even to this day, I never think of Sparky without a smile coming to my face. He gave us years of devotion and companionship. And even into his old age, he continued to pull surprises out of his hidden bag of tricks.

Take a bow, Sparky. You were one in a million.

by Pamela Jenkins
calicoblessings @aol.com

Pamela Jenkins lives in Oklahoma with her husband and four children. She is the office manager of a veterinary clinic and enjoys writing in her spare time. She is a contributing author to such books as Chicken Soup for the Grandparent's Soul, Chicken Soup for the Fisherman's Soul, Angel Cats - Divine Messengers of Comfort, and Country Magazine.
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Today's Queue Stories ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THE LIFEBUOY PHANTOM

IT??™S HAPPENED AGAIN. I GOT ANOTHER PACKAGE IN THE MAIL. IT HAD A BAR OF LIFEBUOY SOAP IN IT. THE PACKAGE WAS MAILED IN GLADEWATER, TEXAS, MY OLD HOME TOWN. IT HAD A RETURN ADDRESS ON IT THAT READ ???1950 MEMORY LANE??? BUT THERE IS NO MEMORY LANE IN GLADEWATER. I CALLED CITY HALL TO MAKE SURE.

THERE WAS A NOTE IN THE PACKAGE WITH THE BAR OF SOAP. IT SAID;

???HELLO, IT??™S ME AGAIN. THIS WAS NOT WRITTEN ON A TYPEWRITER SO DO NOT LET YOUR DETECTIVE WASTE TIME TRYING TO IDENTIFY A TYPEWRITER. THE PAPER IS CLEAN (NO FINGERPRINTS OR IDENTIFYING MARKS). IT IS XEROX PREMIUM MULTI-PURPOSE PAPER THAT MAY BE PURCHASED AT ANY DISCOUNT CENTER. DO NOT ADMIT YOURSELF TO THE HOSPITAL. IF YOU AND/OR YOUR DETECTIVE DO NOT SOLVE THIS MYSTERY WITHIN 30 DAYS I WILL REVEAL MY IDENTITY (IF I STILL KNOW WHO I AM).???

IT WAS SIGNED ???THE LIFEBUOY PHANTOM??? AND I AM BEGINNING TO BELIEVE IN PHANTOMS.

I??™M STILL WAITING FOR THE 30 DAYS TO BE OVER BUT I DON??™T KNOW WHITHER TO BELIEVE THE PHANTOM OR NOT. IF HE/SHE HAS KEPT HIS/HER IDENTITY SECRET THIS LONG WHY REVEAL HIS/HER SELF NOW.

ANOTHER THING, IS THE PHANTOM THE ONE WHO SENT ME THE LIFEBUOY SOAP TIN BOX? THAT COULD BE SOMEONE ELSE ALTOGETHER.

THEN THERE IS SOMETHING I??™VE BEEN KEEPING SECRET ALL THIS TIME. I RECEIVED TWO BARS OF LIFEBUOY SOAP FOR CHRISTMAS 2001. THE CHRISTMAS PRESENT DIDN??™T COME IN THE MAIL IT JUST SHOWED UP UNDER OUR CHRISTMAS TREE WRAPPED IN CHRISTMAS PAPER WITH A BIG RED BOW ON IT.

DOES THIS MEAN THAT JOHNNIE IS IN ON THE CONSPIRACY? I DON??™T THINK SO. I??™VE LIVED WITH HER TO LONG FOR HER TO GET AWAY WITH SOMETHING LIKE THIS FOR THIS LONG. BELIEVE ME I WOULD KNOW. YOU CAN??™T STAY MARRIED TO SOMEONE FOR 52 YEARS WITHOUT GETTING INTO THEIR MIND.

BUT THAT??™S A WHOLE NOTHER STORY FOR A DIFFERENT TIME.

?© COPYRIGHT 2003
EPISODE 2 OF FALL SEASON

Loren Moore
caddo @ digitex.net

MY NAME IS LOREN MOORE AND I'M 72 YEARS
OLD AS OF 11-12 04. I HAVE BEEN MARRIED
TO MY WIFE JOHNNIE FOR 53 YEARS AS OF
11-14-04. NOW THAT I'M IN MY OLD AGE I
DECIDED TO WRITE ABOUT SOME OF THE THINGS
THAT HAPPENED TO ME AND MY FAMILY. THESE
STORIES ARE 90% TRUE AND 10% FICTION. MY
WIFE JOHNNIE SAYS THEY ARE 10% TRUE AND
90% FICTION. MAYBE THEY ARE SOMEWHERE IN
BETWEEN. BE THAT AS IT MAY HERE ARE MY
STORIES. I HOPE YOU ENJOY THEM.

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It Takes Time to put Together a Jagged Jigsaw Puzzle
Claudia Kerens

How many of you have ever been given the best-intentioned gift ??“ the 1500 ??“ 2000 piece puzzle of an amazing National Geographic type scene? Not being an expert at matching these intricate jagged like bits of cardboard that almost always looked the same color, it would take me months to complete the picture ??“ and only then when I was making myself practice perseverance because it was a trait I knew I would need to have somewhere in my adulthood. I just had never in my right and left-brain mind dreamed the course of perseverance God had placed on my plate in 1983-84.

I have provided the basic over view of the event that changed my life forever in two pearls: God granted me a Second Chance and The State of being unconsciousness doesn??™t mean one lost their hearing! Now, I will close the gaps and complete the story.

Once I regained consciousness and the physical therapists did their job expertly at encouraging my beaten up body to learn to walk again ??“ making screaming muscles work and while the scars healed, stitches were removed from here and there, I still had not discerned what the state of my mind was. I had only sketchy recollections as to what supposedly happened. It was like in preserving my life God had given me a 100,000 piece puzzle and expected me to put it all together again ??“ only instead of this puzzle being cardboard, if felt like jagged shards of glass.

Within a few months I was walking and talking and ???appearing??™ as normal as I thought my family and friends needed in order not to see worry furrow their brows. (Almost like a Chatty Cathy Doll!) I don??™t like people to worry. Even today, I am in that ???I??™ll Do It Myself??? mode.
What remained hidden was my total confusion about what had occurred and my newer discovery that I wasn??™t what I once was and probably could never be again. The accident serve the same purpose as my divorce did. It lopped off the fowl friends and left in its??™ place the true-blue loyal friends who would love me no matter how my frustrations would finally seethe in anger and finally boil over into an uncontrollable tantrum of ugly words and self-imposed isolation.
I really wasn??™t mad at any of them. I was angry at myself because I couldn??™t figure out the differences that occurred in how my brain now functioned and I couldn??™t find the person I had fashioned myself to create that public persona that garnered the praise of the broadcasting community. I just couldn??™t find it in myself to be that super social shallow dilettante who flitted from one group to the next, one event to the next, from one project to the next ??“ never lighting long enough in case I like the moth could be further seared by the pain of failure in life ??“ that feeling of being unconditionally loved and cherished as a human being.

I, like Dorothy in the middle of the Emerald City, never realized I had it all along! It was within the sphere of my own backyard ??“ but it took being totally, emotionally, laid low enough to the ground to see it as not being the crab grass of my life!

Isn??™t that the trick of life? We have to know what is low in order to aspire to heights. We have to know what is right in order to know what is wrong! We have to be on this catastrophic roller coaster of high and low blood pressure. Personally I like it medium ??“ 120 over 80!
I have written about my best friend, Madeliene. For all she had to do in her own life, she held that hand up to me through out all of these travails. And finally, I had the good sense to grasp it and make the few steps back into humanity with her holding that emotional walker I would need for awhile until I really could ???Do It Myself!???

That was why God knew ??“ doesn??™t he always! - I could put together that 100,000-piece puzzle called My Life. Through the emotional healing, the concrete recognition of what abilities I would no longer be able to claim along with the commitment to make lemonade out of lemons, I have become who I am today.
I learned how to rethink and focus my mind to accomplishing smaller mental tasks; practicing until I felt confident I could perform them by rote. That??™s how I finally learned how to factor an equation! I made myself learn things I previously had on my hate list according to old journals. I placed my students in alphabetical order for the entire term so I could learn their names with no obvious embarrassment to me or to the student. I re-took college classes to hone my academic knowledge and I really read the books this time around! I concentrated on life more and focused on an imagined future with the alacrity that instead of it being a dream it could be real.
I organized; I cleaned out drawers and straightened closets??“ not because I was told to ??“ but because I had a deep-rooted need to know where everything was in case I wanted it in a snap! Not only was this clean out and reorganization done physically; it had to be done mentally so I could discern what I knew and what I didn??™t and what I had to relearn. And most importantly - what no longer mattered in my new life!

I went through journals, photo albums, trunks, old birthday and greeting cards trying to place a face, an experience, a memory of some kind to the thought or the item to understand why I had kept it in the first place. If some gut instinct did not prevent me, I tossed the physical item into the fireplace and crossed off the mental quest from my list because than it was one less thing to querry.

I read old high school English papers to try to capture the teen I had been. I developed a different perspective about that girl. All these years I had thought of her as the stupid girl the guidance counselor told my parents not to waste money on for college. Instead, the words that she wrote swirled off the pages filled with creativity and ingenuity! She was ???okay!??? And, that guidance counselor was wrong! Good thing my parents ignored him and pushed me into four more years of a liberal arts education and time to grow up!
They had more faith in me than I! That was something also unrecognized. And in this process of what I termed ???reality??™ therapy, I recognized a self I could grow into that would be more rewarding and comfortable than anything I would have become if God had saved me from a drunk driver.
I focused on observing and listening to the needs of humanity around me. I looked into the eyes of my students and cared what became of them. They were not a number but a name I would try hard to remember.
I counted my ???jeweled??™ friends who were there to catch me before I fell too harshly. I also established the practice of talking with God instead of jabbering to myself! And most of all, I focused on listening. I like the quiet times when I feel the inner speaking of my soul in discourse with a higher being who will guide me! Now, I admit I am this poor mortal, sinful human??¦. not some kind of super social shallow dilettante
Most importantly, I forgave others and I did something I had never done before ??“ I forgave myself.

God??™s purpose really wasn??™t to ???seriously??™ harm me. After all He had given me all the breaks I have mentioned; rather, I tend to see the experience today as a major course correction in my fulfilling His purpose for me in life!
I shall continue working at putting that 100,000- piece puzzle together. I want to see the finished picture.

Claudia Kerens
mina1986 @ midwest. net

About Me:

General Bio - 51 year old educator who has
worn several hats in the broadcasting,
office and restaurant worlds. Turning 50
is a freeing experience thus most of my
writing revolves around lessons learned
and wisdom to pass on so that others don't
hit the same brick walls I did. The sooner
folks love themselves, they can give love
to others. And that, is the greatest
gift of all.

Why Am I Doing This?
Roger Dean Kiser


I was on my way to Jacksonville, Florida yesterday to shoot a television show titled "Orphanages today and Orphanages yesterday, have they changed?"
While driving along interstate 95 this strange feeling came over me. I am not quite sure what is was. I have done hundreds of interviews on radio and television and not one of them has made me this nervous. For some reason I knew that I was going to have to talk about sexual abuse. That for the very first time I would have to name names and give the details of my abuses.
The woman who sexually abused me died many years ago. But it is almost like I could hear her inside my head asking me not to tell these things.
"YOU HAD YOUR CHANCE." I screamed out, as I drove along.
No matter what I did the thought would not go away. She kept begging and begging.
As I reached the outskirts of Jacksonville I finally said out loud "OK, if they don't ask me your name I will not tell them."
As quickly as it came, the feeling disappeared. I never even thought about it again until the interviewer (a female) asked me the molester's name, and for the details.
Slowly I told the details of the sexual encounter and I gave the world the woman's name; a name that will be heard by almost a million people when the program airs in late February.
It is strange to me that her voice did not return after I exposed what she had done to me. I sit here now wondering if I have done the right thing. She was a business woman and was very good at what she did. She saved tons of money for the Children's Home Society of Florida orphanage by making sure that we children had very little in the way of food, clothing and that we never had a toy of our own.
She was a very hard woman. She was cruel and she should not have been in charge of children who were in need of love and affection. Was I injured by her making me lay down on top of her while she masturbated? I was a little scared but I do not think that I was permanently damaged in any way.
I am not having second thoughts about exposing her as a child molester. I am having seconds about why I am telling this story on television. What good does it do? She is dead now. There is nothing I can do to change the past. So why am I doing it?

Roger Dean Kiser
trampolineone @earthlink.net

Roger Dean Kiser is the author of the
book "Orphan, A True Story of
Abandonment, Abuse and Redemption."
Roger also writes non-fiction short
stories which he displays on his
website "The Sad Orphan" located at:
www.rogerdeankiser.com
Roger's short stories have also been
published in: Chicken Soup, Heartwarmers
Heartwarmers of Love, A
Cool Collection I and II (Israel),

"The Bully" was made into
a short film by Nicholas Delfino
and has been entered into several major
film festivals in the United States.

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Writers Feedback

Dear Sharon,

That was a lovely piece of writing. It brought home to me my own daughters leaving home, one for university and the other to make her own way in the frantically busy media world of the City of London. I'm sad at the "loss" but glad that they are going out into the world well-adjusted and happy.

Yours aye,
Nick (Bentley)

Sharon surely missed her once little baby.

George Waters Ojeigbe

This brought memories back when my oldest son came home and asked if it was alright to leave home. I remember I had to think about when I left and decided that I survived and he will to so I put hi, in Gods hands to protect him.

Now that his dad has gone he takes care of me and I am so proud of him

Nathalie Symonds

I do enjoy the "A Notebook of Love " by Kathy Whirity. I have seen the love of 2 people in the nursing home where i volunteer. There is a gentleman that comes every day to take care of his non verbal wife. and is so caring of her. It is a pleasure to see him fix her hair a little better or wipe her mouth gently when she drools We see so litlle love these days it makes me feel good just seeing it. I am sure now that I will purchase the book called "The notebook " to read

Nathalie Symonds

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Announcements

Help If You Can ??“ Operation We Care

I'd like to ask if anyone would take the time to write a letter, send a note, or just a card to a soldier in Iraq.

She is the sister of my post master. She's been deployed for over a month in Iraq.

She's left behind four children. She misses her family, and she's pulling long hours of duty.

Her brother is also military and is leaving for a two-year deployment to Germany. Many of you will recall, his baby was diagnosed with cancer at 6 months and many stepped in to send a card when his life was in total turmoil. Again, I thank all who helped make his and his wife's life brighter knowing people cared.

If you'd like to write to this solider, would you please email me and I will give you her address.

Thank you,

Sharon

Operation We Care

1946 @bellsouth.net

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Prayer Requests

Dear Prayer Warriors

I am asking prayer for myself this time. I am in great need of your prayers in two areas:

I need a part-time job quite badly. I have Adult Ed Teacher experience in computers and office Careers

and Keyboarding. And I have 22 years of Clerical/Admin Asst./Secretarial/office mgt experience. I am

semi-retired and still need part-time work. I have been forced for the first time in my career (26 years)

to file for unemployment Insurance. satan, you will not oppress me or bring me to my knees, my Lord Jesus Christ will meet all my needs and agree here with other believers that you are bound powerless over all areas

of my life, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior! Amen

I am asking the Lord to heal my family, I won't go into details, the Lord knows those already. Please pray

for a great healing to occur in my family and a great harvest of souls to come to Lord. What family I have

left here on earth, are very precious to me as well as those who have gone home to be with the Lord. Please

lift all of us up to our Lord. The Lord said if we loved him and served him, he would give us the desires of our hearts, the healing of my family and their coming to the Lord is the desire of my heart!

I need your prayers most desperately in both these areas. I have humbled myself before the Lord and before

you all in asking for these requests.

I thank each one of you for your prayers for others and for me!

With much Love and gratitude,

Barbara J. Weymouth

Barbaraweymouth @yahoo.com

Dear Prayer Warriors

Please join me in praying for Dee, she needs our Savior's touch, her note is attached below:

...The Gas Company is still digging large areas in front of most of the homes on my block. The noise is frightful. I did not sleep at all last night, and don't know how much longer this situation will go on. Just pray that we are not asked to leave our homes. I have no idea if the gas leaks have been contained. It looks like they are digging graves...that is how huge the area is..thank you for caring. Will try to update on this issue.

Dear Prayer Warriors: Here is a note from Toby's Mother, Sharon

Toby got a good report on his blood work and the doctor told him that some take longer to heal and it appears he will be one of those. He is better today, and I think hearing those words made a difference too. God has blessed us both so much with answered prayers, so much to be thankful for. Many blessings for us both.

Love and hugs from one mom to another,

Sharon

Thank you all for your prayers for Toby and his family. Please keep them coming!!! Love, BarbaraToby got a good report on his blood work and the doctor told him that ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SENIOR WRITERS

Agee,Vance, Apted,Violet, Baker,Kathy, Batt,Al, Berry,Nell,

Boda,Ginger, Bryant,Sharon, Cassady,B.J., Crider,Mark, Deming,Barb, Goodier,Steve, Harris,Kathy Anne, Hunt, Sharlette, Jacobson, Gary, Kiser,Roger

Kerens, Claudia

Dean, Jenkins,Pamela, Liles,Norma, Mazzella,Joe, Moore, Loren, Ojeigbe,Georgewaters, Sims,Richard, Vaknin,Sam, Walker,Joe, Whirity,Kathy, White,Robert

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