STORYTIME TAPESTRY

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

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Oct 13, 2005? 

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

Clarity. Whatever you do, you need clarity.

Saskia Nienna Streidel

I remember that a friend of me told me so. He said: ???What you do is not fish and not meat. You need more clarity in your life. This is what you are missing. And this is why things never seem to work out good for you.???

My friend told me to make decisions. But I did not want to. I hate it. I am slow in making decisions. My excuse is, that I need to think about it first for a while, a need to make a list with pro and contra. And then I can decide. But most of the time, it took me so long to make this list, that I did not get the chance to make my own decision. Somebody else already took it for me.

???Not to make a decision is a decision, too!??? That is what my friend told me. ???It is the decision to give the power over your life to somebody else!???

I knew he was right, but I felt like I was not able to change something. I was just a small girl who wanted to be good. I wanted everybody to want me, I wanted nobody to get hurt by me. I wanted everybody to be happy around me and with me. And I forget myself. It was always ???everybody???. Never ???me???.

???Make a decision???.?  That is what my friend told me. He said that things will fall together after that. And he took away my second excuse: Making a wrong decision.

???There is no wrong decision. And if you decided for something you find out that you do not want anymore, just change your decision, make a new one. You can always decide what you want. Every second of your life!???

And he was right.

I made a decision. With soft knees and my hurt beating loud as a thunder storm, I went to my boss.

???Do you have time???? I asked with a voice like a mouse.

He looked at me and smiled. He knew something was coming that made me nervous and that he would not like.

???I want to quit!???

My heart stopped. For a second I thought his heart did, too.

???You want what???? He looked at me.

???I want to study. I will have to leave!???

He looked down. The smile was gone.

???You want to leave. When????

???As soon as possible. The next month.???

His head became red, he became that sad look like a lonely child. And I began to feel bad.

???No!??? I told myself. This trick is not working anymore. I know what you are playing. And I took a deep breath.

???Clarity!??? I thought.

And I went out of his office smiling.

Saskia Nienna Streidel

saskiaofthewoods@yahoo.de

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My name is Saskia Steidel, I am born the? 17.10.1981 in Germany. I live in a small?  village in the middle of the woods and love to write. Right now I study learn therapy and music therapy and I just quit my job as a ticket manager in the administration of an soccer club, to have more time to study and to write and to work as a Nanny, what I really love. So far I published poems and some other pieces in different books and published one book called "Am Ende der Nebel". Right now I am writing on a children??™s book.

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~**~**~? 

Good Luck Fellows

Bill Walker

wildbill6807@yahoo.com

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I remember lots of years ago, I was on a train, with a lot of others. We were going on a trip into the unknown. The day before we were free, could go where we wanted to go. Today we belonged to the government of the United States. Most were just boys. In a few? weeks would change into men. Some would?  go to a far off place. Some would never come back. Some would come back wounded, while some would come home with? wounds of the mind, from what they seen. While some would just come home.

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Some where on the ride. a member of the train crew said. "Good Luck Fellows."

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Yes that was a lot of years ago. A trip into the unknown. A trip like so many before and since has taken. Makes me think of the story about the Charge of the Light Brigade. Charge into the jaws of hell.?  Some will come back, some will not. All will be changed

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Yesterday? we? were light hearted, happy and somewhat carefree. Today the captain says charge.?  Over the top, out of the safety of a hole in the ground, like so many before and since we go.? ?  Into the jaws of hell. Some to fall dead or wounded, some may reach the wall, only to never make it over?  the wall. Like Pickett's charge.

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I seen a picture some time back.?  Old men meeting at the wall. All was shaking hands, hugging one another. Tears was flowing like water.?  You see lot of years before these same men had a gun in hand, shooting at one another.?  This day, they became friends. In all of history, there is no braver then the ones in Pickett's charge.? Those boys just had to know when they charged up the slope, in the wheat field, ? what the chances were of reaching the wall. Slim and none!!?  Many may have said, "good bye mother, wife, sweetheart."?  In the picture all you seen was old men now with deep feelings for the others,?  old men now, yesterday they wore Blue and Gray. Today they wore feelings for each other, and the ones who died that day. Pickett's Charge into hell and history.

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I seen a young soldier the other day.?  It was now my turn.. A old man said?  "Good Luck, Buddy."

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There is always inequality in life.

Some men are killed in war,

and some men are wounded.

Some men never leave the country,

and some men are stationed in the Antarctic,

while others are stationed in San Francisco.

It is very hard in the military,

or in personal life,

to assure complete equality.

Life is unfair.

J.F.K.

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Hearts With Soul New BookTinker & Poo, The Boys Write

Bill Walker tinkerpoo2000@yahoo.com
Purchase, "The Boys Write"

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? ? ~**~**~

THE FIRE IN THE WARDROBE (July 2005)

By: Georgewaters Ojeigbe ??“ Lagos, Nigeria gojiegbe@jhplc.com

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Have you wondered why it is so difficult to create and at the same time so easy to destroy?

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A man takes his whole life gathering assets but the day of destruction is less than few hours or in a twinkle of an eye.?  Imagine the situation of the World Trade Centre (WTC)!? 

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WTC was build over years but it took less than a day to become rumbles.?  Can you imagine that!

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Check the creation of mankind (Adam and Eve), it took Jehovah God six days to make our planet inhabitable but it took just a ???deceit??™ to destroy the initial plan of God for humanity.

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My wardrobe has seen lot of changes in the years gone by.?  Cloths keep changing hands from me to those that are less privileged.

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I have used many years to get most of the clothing in my wardrobe.?  Some were uniforms of my music group.?  Some were native cloths that I hardly put on.?  One office shirt was just sent to me by my elder brother.?  I got one material from a trader at my place of work just newly sewn.?  Apart from these, I had some other cloths just bought and just sewn.?  The ties I put on to the office were also housed in there.?  Some cloths in the wardrobe had spent years in there due to reasons well known to me.?  All in all, it took me years to acquire those materials in the wardrobe but the day of judgment came when those materials in the wardrobe were consumed in the marathon flame in less than five minutes.

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It all started from the fact that I was aiming to safeguard my Video CDs from careless friends coming into my place of abode.

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These friends of mine, well, far younger ones especially, always come to me for films to watch on their family Video CD player.?  I always don??™t have any option than to yield to their requests.?  Those CDs never come back to me alive.?  They are either lost or converted to self use.?  Some I do not remember their location any more, so they are out of my CD rack.

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It got to an extent that I just couldn??™t bear losing any of my CDs any more to those careless teens or under twenties friends of mine.?  That gave me the idea of stocking my CDs in my wardrobe which ended sadly.

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The evening of mid last year (around May or June 2004), I reached home and as usually there was no??? NEPA light??? (my country??™s only electricity supplier). My heart raced to where my CDs are kept in the seating room. On opening the glass rack on the wall, I checked from one CD to another but found that many of my favorites were missing.?  I confirmed from people indoors to know if they had any of the CDs kept somewhere else, but a capital ???NO??™ was their response. ? Well, I couldn??™t fish out a better idea of protection other than to raise steep.? 

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Normally when the electricity provider as usual fails on their tasks, I normally get dressed and stay out door till about 9 p.m.?  The idea is to kill time and get over the intense indoor heat.?  In preparation of that routine, I got my office cloths changed to casual wears ready to step out of my house.?  But before stepping out, I lit a brand new candle stick to lead the way from the seating room to the bedroom where I was to stack the CDs into the wardrobe??™s drawer.?  I held the candle with my left hand and was at the same time stacking the CDs away into the drawer.

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Somehow, the candle flame got into one of the shirts hung in the wardrobe; it must have been the smoke or so because the fire didn??™t start immediately; not when I was in the room anyway.

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Usually, after leaving the bedroom I would entirely get out of the house without having to look back.?  But that faithful day I noticed that something kept holding me back.

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I suspected that I forgot money in the bedroom that made me go back into the room.?  As I was between the seating room and the bedroom; on the corridor, I began to see a light glowing from the open door of my bedroom.?  A thought came to my mind; first it wasn??™t the estate??™s turn to have electricity light and secondly, I had nothing lit in the bedroom before now, I had put off the candle light, leaving the lantern on in the seating room.?  So the light was getting glower and becoming suspicious to me, that made me dashed into the bedroom.?  Behold the wardrobe was on fire.?  The whole room was thick with dark smoke.

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The first precaution that came to my mind was WATER!?  I rushed into the kitchen and thank God there was a 50kg gallon of water.

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My mind was in a state of confusion.?  Lot of imaginations ran through my mind.?  Knowing that the house is a rented apartment, the fire from the building; coming down in flame scared me.?  The only strength in me was my faith in God.?  With that courage I seized the gallon of water and like a mighty man I carried it up reaching my cheek level.?  Wasting no time I ran with it into the bedroom.?  Not minding any river forming in the bedroom, I poured the whole gallon of water into the wardrobe.?  Like a deflated tyre the fire went down immediately.

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Thank God that the mattress was not so close to the wardrobe, if it had gotten to the mattress, maybe I will be writing a different story today.

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For the better part of the night, the whole house was filled with smoke which made me to open the doors and windows wide like I never did.

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The carpet in my bedroom was soaked with water.?  The wardrobe had turned from brown polished wood to black wood leaving the whole materials totally burnt.

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Sometimes in life when a reason unknown to you holds you back you might not appreciate it until you see why you were being held back.?  If I had dashed out of the house immediately stacking the wardrobe with the CDs, there wouldn??™t have been any doubt of the housing coming down in flame, but because I kept unusually meandering in the house I was able to rescue the house from burning.

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During the happenings, my household was already asleep.?  They got to know after I had put out the fire.

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I really appreciated God??™s intervention otherwise if not for His presence that would have been another story.?  Before now I had a similar one.?  In fact I was miraculously saved as I was not at home.

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GOD IS GREAT!

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THE END!

Georgewaters Ojeigbe

gojiegbe @jhplc.com

BIO-DATA

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I was born on 21^st April, 1970.?  I live in Lagos, Nigeria the most populous city in Africa. I sing in a Church music group where I fellowship.?  I love sports.?  I love admiring the heavens and other wonderful works borne from Jehovah??™s hands.?  I discovered the power of writing stories, encouraged by Carol.?  Thanks for her existence!?  I am pet lover minus snakes; I so much hate this creature called snake but others I prefer.?  I like to do lots of home works like creating my art works, gardening, making some home furniture, fitting electrical appliances etc.

~**~**~

I Remember

Sharon Bryant

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I thought of her today.?  I remembered her always being in my childhood.?  I remember her being there during my teens.?  If I ever had a problem and I needed someone to talk to, I knew I could always talk to her.?  No matter what she was doing, she would put it aside and listen to me.

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I remember the nights we sat up till daylight and played Scrabble.?  She taught me how to play when I was very young and I wanted to "beat" her once and for all.?  She was tough.?  Even though I was a kid, she taught me to play for points, not buddies.? ?  She always said, "A good old Scrabble board and a pot of hot tea, and we've got it made!"

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I remember when my grandpa died, how much she hurt.?  I was fifteen that year, she was many years older than I, but I felt her pain to a certain extent.?  I remember at the funeral when they played Taps and folded the flag and handed it to her.?  It broke my heart to see the tears slide down her face as she nodded her head.?  The end of a life with the man she loved so dearly.

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I remember when I began my journey in life as a new bride, all she taught me.?  The recipes that came weekly a thousand miles away.?  Her beautiful penmanship never ceased to amaze me.?  For only going to school to the eight grade, I marveled at how she had taught herself to write so elegantly and with style.

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I remember the years we had together, and then the day I had to say good bye.?  I was twenty-six and I was losing one of the greatest women in my life other than my mother.

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She was born in 1896.?  I remember her today.

Happy Birthday grandma

I'll love you forever and ever, on air, land and sea and through eternity.

Your granddaughter,

Sharon

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Sharon Bryant

1946 @bellsouth.net

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About Me:

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? I am Sharon Bryant,? 59 years old and reside in Alabama.

I lost my child in 1977 when he was five and I write
articles on bereavement often.

I am a chocolate/candy maker and also a wood crafter and knitter.

I am married to a wonderful man, and have two remaining children, a daughter 25,
Amy, and a second son, Randy, age 22.

My main goal in life is to help those who
have lost a child. My website is: www.angelsremembered.tk

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Writers Feedback

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Carol,

? ? ?  Thanks for the heads up my friend.?  I know that I will enjoy the Oct 12th edition with all these stories in it.? 

? ? ?  I already read your special treat.?  I am pretty sure I know what

site you are writing about.?  I left that site myself and removed all my writings from it.? (That was a lot of work) :-)

? ? ?  I left for two reasons.?  One was the small print on the joining agreement that I didn't know about that said they could sell my work for profit without even letting me know.?  The second was the constant criticism some people gave out.?  Like you said:There is no reasoning with this man which by the way was one thing I considered to be a secret of life - the ability to work things out. He is a prime example of how it does not always work

? ?  In the end I stopped sending things in because I didn't want to

try to argue my point with people who didn't listen and I was afraid

to that my writings would start to change to try and please everyone.

? ? ? Like Leo Buscaglia once said: "You can be the best most beautiful peach in this world, but some people don't like peachs."

? ? ?  Have a glorious day my friend.?  Wishing you every joy, Joe

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Carol ??“ How Can I not React? - Gee! That's terrible. Maybe that person should just shut up
and go away? I just ignore things like that. Ya can't please everyone.
Thanks Mark

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? SENIOR WRITERS

Chief Writer: Sharon Bryant

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

Boda, Ginger;? ? Buhagiar, Victor; Cassady, B.J.;?  Cavalera, Robyn; Crider, Mark;? 

Deming, Barb; Doherty, Maria; Goodier, Steve; Halley, Ellie Braun;

Harris, Kathy Anne;? Hunt, Sharlette;? 

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

Liles, Norma; Lock, Joyce; Mazzella, Joe;? Ojeigbe, Georgewaters;

?  Petry, Dianna Doles; Roberts, Susan;?  Shiveley, Debra; Shaw, Bob; Sims, Richard; Streidel, Saskia; Swarner, Ken; Vaknin, Sam; Verhoeff, Jan

Walker, Bill; Walker, Joe;? Warner, Gorden K; Walsh, Sue

Whirity, Kathy;? White, Robert;

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STORYTIME TAPESTRY STAFF

Publisher: Carol Roach-founder

Moderator: Thelma Hartselle-co founder

Moderator: Clara Westerfer

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