STORYTIME TAPESTRY

April 11, 2005

Congratulations goes out to our newest senior writer, Bill Walker

Happy Birthday Michael Morgan from your friends at Storytime Tapestry

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

Animal awareness series endorsed by Shiloh and Hank our mascots; all stories must receive their approval.

Wolfie - World??™s Most Wonderful Dog   

Kay  Seefeldt

Every parent knows their child is the most wonderful child on earth.
The same premise holds true for a girl and her dog.  Wolfie entered our
home and hearts cradled in the palm of my older brother??™s hands.
Depositing the tri-colored puppy in the middle of the kitchen floor, he
asked, ???What do you think we should name him????  I was immediately
smitten by my first case of puppy love.

???Let??™s call him Tiny...??? I clamored.  Chuckling, my brother replied,
???That??™s a good name, but he??™ll soon overgrow that one, you??™ll see. 
What do you think about Wolf????  And because my brother was the smartest
person in the world, Wolf was the perfect name. Rugged, strong and
protective like my brother.

In a matter of days our ???tiny??? shepherd-collie puppy no longer fit in
the palm of brother??™s hands. Before summer vacation ended, Wolfie
barely fit in our rather tiny kitchen.  Standing on hind legs, he could
easily snitch his favorite treat from our table when Mama??™s back was
turned. ???Baaaaad Dog!??? was her inevitable response with banishment from
the house while digesting his latest stick of butter. If he got the
chance to snag a roll of toilet paper, he??™d spend a happy afternoon
TP-ing the neighborhood. For his first Christmas, Brother gave him his
own four pack.

Wolf was my sister??™s and my constant companion.  Getting us to and from
school safely was his self assigned duty. Our canine crossing guard. We
couldn??™t wait to see his wagging tail at 2:30 signifying ???let our day
begin.???


Wolfie and I contemplated the mysteries of life over many a shared ice
cream cone.  When I'd have a bad case of the blues, Wolfie sat
patiently while I cried into his long ruff.  I felt sure he was about
to say something truly important.

Even though Wolfie detested getting wet, he was our beach guard.  If
Sandra and I ventured beyond our knees, he??™d nudge us back into the
safety of shallower water.

Long before the official ???Take Your Daughter to Work Day,??? my sister
and I loved helping Daddy on the lobster car - a large floating, wooden
crate like device with a small outhouse shaped shelter in the center
for keeping the tender out of the elements. The car was used when the
fishermen couldn??™t get to the wharf on the low tides.  Wolfie would
pace the rocky ledges whining, howling, and pleading with Daddy to
bring us back.  When that failed, in desperation he??™d plunge into the
frigid Atlantic waters to swim the 75 yards to our ???rescue.???  When it
was time to ???punch out,??? Wolf would be the first one aboard the row
boat. He??™d claim the bow by placing his front paws over the gunwales,
facing home like a true mariner.

Mama always joked that the only reason Wolfie braved the lion den of an
ocean was because he knew Daddy wouldn't take care of us kids as well
as he could.

When I was sixteen, the inevitable happened.  I came home late in the
afternoon to grab a bite to eat.  The rest of the family weren??™t home
yet.  When I entered the entry way, Wolfie staggered to his feet before
his hind legs crumpled under him. Wolf would rather die than make a
mess in the house, and I could tell he wanted out.

Somehow gathering the eighty pound dog in my arms, I carried him down
the front steps and steadied him while he dribbled on to the grass. 
After settling Wolf back on his old blanket in the entryway, I fed him
a hot dog as there wasn??™t any ice cream in the freezer.  Wolfie??™s
fading eyes looked deeply into my mine as if to say, "Everything will
be all right," and I knew the truth.  My Wolfie was seriously ill. 
Settling onto the blanket beside him, I tenderly cradled his weary head
in my lap as mascara tears streamed down my cheeks.

Early next morning my brother loaded our beloved Wolfie into his car
for the long ride to the vets. We all hoped for a miracle, but in our
hearts we knew nothing could be done, except release Wolfie to cross
the rainbow bridge as his time had come.

Many years and many wonderful dogs later, none have been able to fill
the paw prints Wolfie, my first love, left on my heart.  Wolfie never
did anything truly heroic; though he was my hero. He never became grand
champion or won obedience medals, but he was a ???good dog??? most of the
time.

My gentle, loyal companion taught me much about patience, sharing, and
enjoying life to the fullest, but the greatest gift from the World??™s
Most Wonderful Dog were his daily doses of unconditional love.

?© Kay Seefeldt

Today's Queue Stories
~**~**~**~ 

THE PURPLE HEART

Roger Dean Kiser

I decided to go to the Goodwill Store while my wife was next door, at the local Pharmacy.

While I was growing up I lived on the streets for many years, and had to depend upon clothes and shoes from such places. I swore that I would never purchase anything from those types of stores again. That day, for some strange reason, I broke my rule.

Walking around, I looked at all the racks of worn shoes, faded pants and shirts; all lined against the wall in the same way as it was forty-five years ago. It brought back many painful memories for me to enter such a place.

I stopped at a table with a small cardboard box and a tray of old tarnished silver-ware. It was the contents of the small container that caught my attention. I fumbled through the box of military medals, and was surprised to find a Purple Heart.

I had never seen one before. I picked up the medal and I stared at it, wondering what brave soldier had received this honor, and if he, or she, was still alive. I could not believe that anyone would discard such a precious item.

I placed it back into to the tray and continued through the store. No matter how hard I tried, I just could not get that darn medal out of my mind.

I walked up to the front of the store and asked the woman how much the medals cost.

"Twenty-five cents, each," she replied, with a smile.

"Why would anyone throw away something like that?"

"Maybe it belonged to someone who died, and when their estate was sold at auction the medal no longer had a value," she shrugged with little interest.

I immediately returned to the back of the store and retrieved the Purple Heart. Without a word, I purchased it for a quarter and I walked out to my truck, where I waited for my wife.

When she finally joined me she asked me if I had found anything of value.

"As a matter of fact, I did. I found something that was priceless, and I purchased it for only a quarter," I replied.

When we arrived home, I cleaned up the medal and its ribbon as best I could. Then I wrapped it in a small American Flag and I buried it with honor, along with a copy of the Bill of Rights, which I had kept from my junior high school days.

I no longer hold myself to that rule that I made many years ago. Unfortunately, there are many priceless items that can be found in the local Goodwill Store.

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.

~**~**~

A Man, Name is Ray

Bill Walker

wildbill6807 @yahoo.com

I have never seen this fellow, Ray. But he must be a special type. There is lot of men like Ray. There also is lot that would never make Rays class. All I know about Ray is what a lady tells me. I think she would know. Her husband knows Ray; the difference is her husband is no Ray. The two men share a common interest, other then that they are different as day and night.

You see Ray and his wife is/has been married for 50 years.  He treats her as if the knot has not been tied yet. On special days, she gets the flowers, the box of candy. He is still trying to win her heart, much the same as courting days. That could be it; maybe he is thanking her for 50 years also.  He tells that his wife always wears a red dress (for Valentine's Day) and the two of them celebrate this Day for Lovers each and every year. And why not?  I think that is wonderful. Isn't that day for lovers?  It should make no difference. Still courting, or 50 years of marriage.

You may be wondering so what?  Lots of cases like this.  This is different. Ray's wife is an invalid~~bed-ridden.  He stands by his wife. He sees that she has care. He pays to keep her  home.  And the flowers, the box of candy still comes on special days. I bet there are many special days. You know any day may be a special.

I also know two men; their wife became much the same way. Each could not ditch wife fast enough. I will tell you a bit here. Both said it was because wife was no longer wife.  The strange thing is both took up with another woman.  The funny is both ended up with a bad deal.  I think that God gave both the bad deal because of one thing. I think the lines said by the preacher man are. "Until Death Do You Part.???  case closed.

I think Ray remembers those lines.  He is doing as God says do. Stand by your mate. In good times, bad times, sickness, health, whatever happens you stick like glue.  They married in the good times, now he remembers. He is still there, with the flowers, and the box of candy.  He is the kind of man I like, not the other two.   You maybe say the other two didn't have the means to stand by. They both are in the high income bracket.

I will never see Ray I'm quite sure of that.  But he and others like him needs the story told.  A story of true love.