STORYTIME TAPESTRY

The Newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness throughout the world

June 12, 2005

 Today we welcome another new writer for Storytime Tapestry.  Shankar Hemmady is writer number 215 and comes to us with a very unique and earnest style.  He is also a very accomplished individual as well.  Please welcome him into our fold in the usual Storytime Tapestry family style. His work is well worth the accolades.

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

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

A Friend's House Is Quiet Tonight 

Bill Walker

wildbill6807@yahoo.com

A friend of mine, the house is a bit on the quiet side tonight, will be for sometime. You see a family member crossed over through the curtain to the other side. This happens to us all sooner or later, a family member leaves the rest behind.

Some comes into this world for only a short time, some lives for a long time, while some is in between in time here. We never know what, nor how long anyone or animal will live. You see I am speaking of a family member, a pet.

Yes a pet is a family member, that is if they are loved, and cared for like any other member of the family. You know, has a place for it's bed, has enough to eat, drink, take part in what ever is going on. Also gets taken care of if has a health problem.

Yes CharlieBoy was a family member. He wasn't feeling up to par about a month ago.  His family took him to his doctor.  He stayed in the hospital over night, and tests was done. His Lady came and was with him the next morning. In the afternoon it was figured out what to do for him.  He needs a special little care and some meds.  Well he got better. Well a pet is no different then a human. Sometimes will get cured, sometimes will be able to go on, but the problem is still there. What ever the care and meds help, but got to have the meds for sure. CharlieBoy was getting along pretty good.  He was able to do the normal CharlieBoy things. CharlieBoy died 11:30 PM June the 3rd 2005. It makes no difference the cause, he is gone, there is nothing that could be done.   I guess one might say it was his time.

Some will say CharlieBoy was a dog. So they are just a person of little note also. If one will remember what it says in the Bible.. And the Bible is very clear on this. God takes count of every creature he made, and a dog is one he made. It also says in the Bible, God knows every hair on your head.  And you stand and tell me CharlieBoy was just a Dog.  I will tell you one thing my friend, you might not make it to Heaven, but CharlieBoy is in Heaven. You see CharlieBoy never broke the laws of God.

Yes there is a family missing one member. CharlieBoy may be a dog to you, to his family he was a  member. Heaven has a new member at the Rainbow Bridge, waiting like the loyal dog he was, waiting for his family to come home. You know CharlieBoy might be helping to get his Lady's Mansion built, like handing the Master Carpenter a nail when needed.

Well I??™m a story teller, not a writer.  Never learned the art of fancy English. I

happen to live in Nebraska, but I??™m still Missouri. Never married, all the Dollies I

ever took a second look at was too smart. Now at 74, just turned that other day, I

figure they all home safe. I love Doggies and Dollies in that order. Lost my two

true friends this year, that be Tinker and Poo. So I found me a new one. This

time a little girlie Peke. She is a normal female. Got a mouth, talks all the time.

She will never be a great writers of stories like Tinker and Poo. They have

about 50 stories on HWS. And now writing back from Rainbow Bridge.

I just try to write about people, places and things best I remember. Have something

over 250 stories on HWS. under three names.   

Today's Queue Stories
~**~**~**~

The Reluctant Dad

Shankar Hemmady

Until I was almost thirty, I felt that my childhood wasn't complete.
Missed all those ball games that I never played for fear of losing.
Loved solo sports... even at 40, I can bet you a penny that I will
lose a ballgame if I play it with you!

So... when the wife said it was about time to have kids -- that her
BClock was ticking -- I said, wait a minute! What about the exploding
population that was burdening Mother Earth? Or, how about we wait
until I complete my childhood, let alone taking care of kids of my
own? How about learning tennis and golf and horse-riding, and
completing some
more treks: Yellowstone, Hawaii, Mt. Rushmore, Europe, Africa, South
America...??

She was wise: she gave me a choice: either now or never! Trying to be
a good husband, I complied. We had two wonderful kids within two
years. Great kids. They still listen to a few things when we preach.
They are active listeners -- they hear us; acknowledge that they've
heard us; do exactly what they want to do; and often can immitate with
wild gestures
what we preach to them in exciting overtones. They teach us something
every day. For those of you who have resisted having kids, just listen
to this reluctant dad:  kids can be either the greatest joy of your
life, or.... it's up to you, it's your choice: what you make out of
your great relationship with kids is indeed up to you! You want to see
yourself in the mirror? Go have a kid. You want to know how to raise a
village or make the world a better place? Go have a kid, or adopt one,
and raise it.

For almost eight years, I spent umpteen hours/day in my career. It
started off with a convenient excuse: gotta make money for their
healthcare, their education, their travel & leisure. Last time I
checked, I figured, if I continued along this path, within a few
years,
I probably would ensure that they could retire in Hawaii and the
Bahamas with no need to work, and they'd truly wonder if their life
was worth spending on anything better!

So... when I sat down two years ago for a few days in solemn silence,
which is quite a bit difficult for me as some of you have seen, one of
the ordinary insights I got was: how I had used and abused my
"fatherly responsibility" of taking care of the family and being a
"good
bread-winner" to escape the confines of my home and drown myself in
workaholistic (workaholic and apparently holistic) pursuits. Good
work, no question about it. Good rationalization for 100-hour weeks,
with no need to touch base with kids and home. No other addictions,
mind you. Workaholism is a good enough escape for a huge number of my
fellow techies and geeks around this beautiful Sili Valley. We often
see the sunrise and sunset and Yosemite and Big Sur in cute pixels in
3D on our monitor backgrounds, sometimes on our Palm, and if/when the
monitor takes some rest at 2am!

Once, when Shona was 2.5, she wondered why I was home early at 9pm.
She asked me, won't you need to go back and finish that other client's
work which you've left incomplete? At the time, it looked like my
daughter was precocious. Now I know that my addiction was slowly
becoming hereditary.  On another occasion, Anand wasn't sure who I
was: I had been out of the house for some 30 hours, had come back all
hirsute, cheering like a teenage dude out of a drunken rave party...
celebrating the second tape-out of a  3-D chip with some cool
rendering capabilities that would result in a kick-ass offering for
the mobile
market. Ever heard of such creatures? Only in Sili Valley. May be in
Taipei and Bangalore too, by now.

It finally dawned upon me in 2002 that I had a duty to be at home in
the evenings and weekends, no matter what the BoD said, or a boss
said. Made a strong determination to be at home by 7pm +/- 30 minutes.
Usually, landed at home before 8pm. And did a lot of the chores.
Begrudgingly going thru homework and classwork. Actually did dishes.
Some times, assisted on housework. Until then, all chores at home had
been outsourced. Rationale? Specialize in what I can do best,
outsource the rest!

Except... I had outsourced living life itself! I had outsourced
parenting. I had even deferred being a human being to some retirement
age (59 or 65?) when I would have a lot more time for the mundane
things in life -- like watching the sun rise or set, or birds fly! For
now, it was all available in computer animation, or in the
gene-spliced, genetically-engineered simulations of haplotypes (sp?).

Finally, landed up at another spiritual workshop on creating
compassion -- literally by accident. Dad had said that I shouldn't do
the usual rites and rituals for his death anniversary, that I should
do something more useful like being good to people around me! What was
that?? Needed to find out why my head rarely aligned with my heart
while at home and while doing normal day-to-day stuff when money was
neither being earned
nor consumed... the workshop was the last straw. May be, the folks
here were too nice to be profitable -- they were losing boat-loads of
money. May be they'd never been thru the roller-coaster ride of an
IPO. May be, they were born with non-techie stars. They were good to
me, even on the phone. And they wouldn't sell anything to me. They
were just nice --
plain old nice, for no reason at all. I was sold. I got a decent
discount and showed up at the workshop having not paid a penny until
late that night -- no registration even until 10pm, no ID checked:
strange! Surely, this wasn't the America I knew.

Without getting into the nitty-gritties, all I can say is: the
experience was heart-rendering. The best gift dad could have left me
with. Don't know how big it is -- but my heart does beat every once in
a while. Reminds me when I sit on my computer that there is a son at
home waiting to play chess and basketball. That there's a daughter who
wants to tickle me, and dance with me (my newly acquired skill) and
show me nice little baby steps. I think I am learning to be a better
dad -- and unlearning some of the missteps in my American Dream.

Have a wonderful day,
 
Best regards,
Shankar Hemmady
Shankar@Hemmady.com
_____

Shankar Hemmady's bio:

Shankar Hemmady is founder & CEO of SereneFlow, a social venture based in the
San Francisco Bay Area, focused on Integrative Healthcare & Wellness. Prior to
SereneFlow, Mr. Hemmady was CAD Ambassador at Sun Microsystems.  Before
Sun, Shankar founded PharmQuest, a Pharmaceutical regulatory automation
company, and Guru Technologies, an electronic design services company.

Shankar's interests include entrepreneurship,  education,  hiking,
camping,  dance,  poetry,  music,  traditional therapies,
spirituality and meditation. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area
with his wife, Seema, and his two children, Shona and Anand.

~**~**~

Amy??™s Way to see things

By Robyn Cavalera

I may have told this story before, but it bears repeating. My Daughter Amy used to be a server at Cracker Barrel. All her co-workers and bosses loved her. She always had a cheery attitude, and they knew she loved Jesus. Amy made no qualms about praying when the need arose. Even at work.

One day when it was very busy, this man came into the restaurant. The Hostess was very upset. He stunk, looked real ragged and dirty, and spoke NO ENGLISH at all. She wanted to ask him to leave, but that was not the policy at Cracker Barrel. As he waited to be seated, a few of the wait staff came up to seat people. When they saw the man, and smelled him, they said for her, NOT to seat him in their station. They all said the same thing. Smelled, dirty and no English! Out of desperation, the Hostess asked Amy if she would wait on him. When Amy asked why, the woman told her. Amy said. "Of course, I will!! You bring him to my station!!" It upset Amy, but she tried not to let it show. Amy hated judgmental attitudes worse than thieves. The Hostess brought the man to Amy??™s station, and he waited for her. Amy came out of the kitchen with an order, smiled at the man, and said "be right there sir!" and delivered her food. All the people were staring at this man. Amy was very confused! She went over to him, and asked him if he would like coffee? He said no, thank you, but tea? She said sure, and went to get it. (Keep in mind here folks, Amy under stood him perfectly). She brought him his tea, and smiled. Do you know what you want to order? Yes he said, and ordered his food. When Amy went to bring it to the kitchen, the others were staring at her open mouthed. How can you stand it? They asked. Stand what? Said Amy. The man is dirty, smelly and cannot even speak English. How did you know what he ordered? Do you speak his language or some thing? Amy just looked at them with a quizzical look, and got the order. She delivered it and started talking to the gentleman. So where are you from? He replied, long way from here. Have you been traveling long? She asked. Yes, he replied. Well, she said. I hope you like it here, and come back to visit me. He said he would love that. Amy went about her business. The man finished his meal, and left. Much to the happiness of the staff, and several customers. Later, one girl asked Amy how she was able to do that. Amy again was confused. Why? What do you mean? That man, the girl said. He was so,??¦. So,??¦. Dirty! Amy pulled her and a few others aside. This was what she told them

Look, I don??™t know what your problem is. That man was very clean, handsome, and very well dressed. He spoke perfect English, and smelled like million-dollar cologne. He had a wonderful white linen shirt on. Beautiful Tan linen pants, and the most expensive sandals I have ever seen. His hair was well clipped, and he SMELLED great!!! Now what is your problem people!!! They all looked at her, and said, what is your problem Amy!! He was horrible.

When Amy told me this, I knew she had seen an angel. Every one saw him as they wanted to. However, Amy saw him, as God wanted them too.

"Do not forget to entertain strangers. For it might well be an angel in disguise."

This is a true story.

"Believe it or not!!!"

Robyn Cavalera
321-268-0390
robyajesusfreak@bellsouth.net
"Wake up oh sleeper from your slumber and arise,
for the great day of the Lord is upon us!!!
MARANATHA
http://www.ilovejesus.com/worship/swpw/peace.html

~**~**~

Poetry Section

~**~**~

Fear

Sue Walsh

It??™s fear that keeps us trapped on the Shelf

Gathering dust ??“ being untrue to ourself

We can only imagine what wonders we could achieve

If we didn??™t have fear ??“ which loves to deceive

We don??™t have to let fear hold us still

Anything can be accomplished with the power of the will

Fear stops us moving forward to the endless possibilities of places we

could go

It??™s fear that keeps us from finding out what we need to know

It could be fear of being rejected

Or unloved and neglected

It might be fear of disapproval or of pain

Of abject poverty or just lack of monetary gain

The fear may be intense or just a little niggling Doubt

But once it sets in ??“ it??™s hard to kick out

To overcome fear - keep moving outside your comfort zone

Remove indecision fear and doubt completely from your home

And then see what you can achieve

In the end you??™ll look back and find it difficult to believe

~**~**~

Patience

Sue Walsh

I want to be a pioneer ??“ but in what field

I want my life to count ??“ the crop to give the highest yield

But there seems to be experts in every area that I look

People with such creative genius ??“ how can I ever write a book

I can??™t think of a story line

That would ever pass the test of time

There??™s been a Joan of Arc, a Mother Theresa, Diana and a Florence

Nightingale

Compared to the great women in time anything I can accomplish would

seem extremely pale

Perhaps that??™s why I??™ve come ??“ to show others that they need to focus

be patient and persist

And just to give up is an urge they need to resist

Sue Walsh

~**~

Dear Heavenly Father

Sue Walsh

You??™re always there ??“ but how many times do we call upon you only in our hour of need

Help us to seek you out always  - to share our joys as well as our heartaches

To know that you??™re always listening watching and caring brings a certain stability and meaning to our lives

To know that you??™re in charge of the plan gives us confidence to continue on when we would rather just give in

Help us to be thankful for all of our blessings even the smallest and to find joy in them all

Thank you for your loving arms around us always.

Amen

Sue Walsh

Adelseal @senet.com.au

Bio

My name is Sue Walsh - I live in Adelaide, South Australia with my husband and two children.  I worked as a Legal Secretary for 25 years and then my husband and I started our own engineering import/export business.  I love to learn about spiritual subjects and have study many different areas.  I love to write spiritual/religious poetry and peace prayers, I am also endeavouring to complete a novel.

Writers Feedback

To Donna From Dianna: Nope, don't ever let yourself grow old, would be my reply. Live life and
don't give up until you can't take another step!

I too with Dianna  (Candlelight) wonder what to do with myself at the age of 59............do i give in and become old or what do i do????????DKB

Kathleen Baker's poem "The Locker" is a keeper.   Her story "March  Madness" is wonderful too.  -Kay

 SENIOR WRITERS

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

Boda, Ginger;  Bryant, Sharon;  Buhagiar, Victor; Cassady, B.J.;  Crider, Mark; 

Deming, Barb; Goodier, Steve;  Harris, Kathy Anne; Hunt, Sharlette; 

Jacobson, Gary;  Kiser, Roger Dean; Kerens, Claudia; Jenkins, Pamela;

Liles, Norma;  Mazzella, Joe; Ojeigbe, Georgewaters;

  Petry, Dianna Doles; Roberts, Susan;  Shaw, Bob; Sims, Richard; Swarner, Ken; Vaknin, Sam;

Walker, Bill;  Walker, Joe; Warner, Gorden K;

Whirity, Kathy;  White, Robert;

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