STORYTIME TAPESTRY

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

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Oct 14, 2005? 

Today??™s Announcements:

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A very special birthday wish goes out to Bob Johnston, Storytime Tapestry moderator, and publisher of Starfish, Sand Dollar and Driftwood newsletters.

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? I am happy to introduce you to Sheila Finklestein, writer # 254, for Storytime Tapestry.?  Sheila runs a wonderful newsletter sending out daily pictures she has taken herself.?  These pictures are inspirational; so much so that my finance has taken some of her inspirations and created his own unique version for his paintings.? 

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

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Today's Queue Stories
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Favorite Things

By

Pamela Perry Blaine

?© July 2005

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???No, No!?  The blue cup, Grammy, please, the blue cup,??? my Grandson, Ben, announced adamantly when I was about to hand him a plain ordinary cup from his Momma??™s kitchen shelf.

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???What??™s wrong with this one, Ben?????  I questioned.? 

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???It??¦ not??¦ elephant!??? he said incredulously as he pointed out the lid that went to the cup so that he could drink from the long snout of the elephant.? ? 

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???How absolutely stupid of me,??? I thought to myself.?  Why drink from a plain old cup when you can drink from an elephant??™s trunk?? 

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Children soon become little creatures of habit and have their own favorite things that suit their personalities and also help them feel secure.?  There??™s the ratty looking baby blanket that my granddaughter still has to take along on overnight stays, while Ben has to have a laser wand or a couple of creature people with him wherever he goes.?  After all, you never know when you might meet up with a space alien and need to defend yourself.

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As I thought about Ben and his cup, my mind flashed back to another time when I was at my Grandma??™s house.?  It is strange how something like Ben??™s cup triggered the memory:

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???No, No, use this plate!??? My Grandma exclaimed as I started to set Granddad??™s place at the table with a blue flowered plate that matched Grandma??™s plate.?  ???Your Granddad always uses this plate,??? she said as she handed me a plain white plate with a crack down the middle.? 

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???But Grandma, this one is all cracked and chipped!??? I argued.

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???It doesn??™t matter, this one is the one your Granddad always uses, and here is his glass and silverware.??? She added.?  It seemed that not only did he have a favorite plate but the whole place setting was made up of his favorite utensils. From that day on, whenever I would set the table, I knew which objects were particularly Granddad??™s favorites and I dutifully placed the old cracked plate at my Granddad??™s place at the table.

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When I was growing up, we didn??™t have matched plates, cups, and silverware.?  We had a cupboard of mismatched items that were used ???for everyday???.?  The matched dinnerware was for special occasions like Thanksgiving or when the preacher came for dinner.? 

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Momma wasn??™t overly fond of dishwashing and the only dishwasher we ever had back then was the person whose turn it was to "do dishes", so each of us was assigned a cup or glass to use during the day.? ?  Although I didn??™t have a blue elephant sippie cup back then, I did have my favorite cup.?  Momma designed me? one before we ever heard of designer dishes .?  It was a gold colored aluminum glass that was one of the gas station giveaways back then.?  She wrote my name on it with fingernail polish and I? felt special having my very own glass.? 

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Of course, it??™s silly to want to have a certain cup or dish.?  We all grow out of that sort of thing after we become mature adults.?  It??™s just a childhood "blue elephant sippie cup thing".? ? I doubt any of us as adults have ever been known to turn down a glass of ice cold lemonade because it wasn't in a blue elephant sippie cup or? supper because it wasn??™t on? a certain? plate.?  Yet, I sometimes smile and think of Ben and my grandparents these days as I set my place at the table with my red heart-shaped cup with the teddy bear on it and my teaspoon with the rose on the handle.? 

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By

Pamela Perry Blaine

?© July 2005

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Pamela Blaine

Route

Baring, MO. 63531

660-892-4517

Pam lives in Missouri with her husband, Michael.?  She enjoys composing music and writing stories.?  She writes "Pam's Corner" for her local newspaper, The Edina Sentinel.?  Pam and her husband are active in their church where she plays piano and he is music leader.?  They have a CD available called, "I'll Walk You Home".? ?  The title song is about her lifelong friend who died of cancer.?  You can hear this song on her website:? http://blaines.us/PamyPlace.htmSeveral of her stories have been published on the internet as well as in books such as The Miracle Of Sons, 2The Heart/People Who Make A Difference,? and A Tribute To Moms.?  Her goal is to write to encourage others and to write stories for her children and grandchildren? so that stories and family history will be preserved.? 
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My Website:
http://blaines.us/PamyPlace.htm
e-mail: pamyblaine@blaines.us

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~**~**~? 

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The Onion Cure

Sheila Finklestein

In case icing toes, or other body parts, does not work when things fall onto your body parts or you do something else to them,

Try placing a slice, or piece, of onion on it and secure it in place with tape.

Remarkably this keeps bruising and swelling down, and has even eliminated these after effects altogether.

Recommended by my medical massage therapist friend, it really "saved" me when I ran into a closed sliding glass door on my patio, hit my face and fell back and banged my head on the concrete. ? Amazingly the only after effects to all of this was the most beautiful, colorful black eye anyone had ever seen--according to the comments of all who saw me.

The one drawback is that the smell of the onion set up a craving for a thick, juicy, rare hamburger - something I hadn't eaten in years!!!!! I did not indulge!

I've since used this a few times. ? Shellie, my friend, and I were going to a theater and shortly before she came I dropped something on my little toe...she wrapped it on my toe for me. ? Last week I tripped in the garage and as I braced myself I bent back my little finger.

A cool soothing onion, some tape, and no bruising or swelling.
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What does all of this have to do with 42 days of writing...

Well:
It's writing
It encompasses memories...some of our assignments
The smell is definitely present - sweet and pungent~

Love,
Sheila
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Sheila Finkelstein

sheila@naturesplayground.com

PICTURE TO PONDER ? - FREE daily Photo ezine to delight and inspire
http://www.eteletours.com/issue130a.html - FROM MY HEART TO YOURS
http://sheilafinkelstein.typepad.com/picture_to_ponder - BLOG

see also - Fine Art Photography and Drawing
http://www.naturesplayground.com

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Decimal
by Vance Agee

???A place value system??? developed about 3,000 B.C. by the Chinese, Arabs, or Sumerians! The use of decimals to express this numerical concept was much easier than using Roman numerals or using a long list of Chinese characters. We all understand .1, a decimal.

Until checking on-line I did not fully realize the extensive history and importance of using that little dot! I did realize, however, the exactness created by a decimal ??“ the exactness!

And one semester in 2000 I realized God??™s exactness in His promises to us.

My daughter, then still in a tough local college, had expressed some concern about her grades and her semester GPA, Grade Point Average, which is calculated to the first decimal, such as 3.5. Add .5 and we have a GPA of 4.0, for some reason the top grade.
But enough of dots for now!

In 2000 I had sought God to develop a very close prayer relationship with me, one which I will seek again to strengthen. I realized that coming to God away from worry into prayer with thanksgiving was very powerful. (If I ask you a favor for later and thank you now when asking, I am showing you full confidence that you will, indeed, help me! That both shows faith and eliminates the current worry or anxiety.) I also decided that if God, my Abba Heavenly Father by Jesus Christ, could ask: ???Come, let us reason together ??¦???, then I could do likewise, and I did.

I am not psychic or hear ???voices???, but the feeling of assurance came to me that I could, indeed, ???reason??? with Him. Well aware of the power of belief and thanks in real prayer, as explained in Philippians Chapter 4, I decided to ask God what I might request from Him as a GPA. He ???told??? me the GPA to the first decimal point. (Out of respect for my daughter, I will share that it was over 3.0 but prefer not to write whether it was a 3.1, 3.2, 3.5, etc.) I then prayed for this GPA and thanked Him. At the instant of thanks, I knew. No, I did not just believe or hope; I knew.

I shared my information with my wife and daughter. The reader can imagine our normal reaction to hearing something like this!

Until it came in the mail.

(I have shared this story with many Christians, and they seem surprised. Why?)

Lessons: pray and talk with God, believe, thank Him, then thank Him for assurances, and ask exactly as you believe ??“
even to the decimal!


P.S. I did let everyone down a little, by a decimal. God later had ???told??? me that if I requested a decimal higher, He would grant it. I forgot to do so! Until this moment of writing, I have not realized how my mistake compares human error to our perfect God.
Beyond the decimal. VA

INRI ??“ IXTHUS ??“ YHWH

Vance G. Agee

vgagee @adelphia.net
About Me:

I was born in Buffalo, New York, a few
decades ago. I was a lonely only child.
However, my mom read to me: the KJV Bible
cover to cover, Pilgrim's Progress, and
numerous books. Between four and eight
years old, I lived at

inFort Erie, Ontario. I loved Suzanne Bevan,
blond hair and bangs and recently wrote a
poem about that. Great people there!
I then attended School 54 in Buffalo and
the Martin? Luther? School,where my favorite
subject was Church History. I would write
the assignment and then read for fun! I
attended Buffalo? Bennett? High School inBuffalo, a great school then. Out of 2000,
I was often among top 10 and sometimes I
would be number one on the honor roll, with
a 99% average. I was valedictorian 1/400,
but hated the SAT's. The school failed to
measure my I.Q.,because I maxed out their
group test. Basically, I hated school,
but learned to play the game, because that
attention was one of the very few things
which made me feel some self worth! I
had the problem of being interested in
nearly every subject and having no idea on
which to finally concentrate for a life's
work.

I attended and became valedictorian at
summa cum laude from Houghton? College in
our NY Southern Tier. I spent one summer
in Europe and one at Middlebury College,VT. I was asked back for two years as an
interim instructor. There I met my wife,
Kathleen. For two years I taught atPhil-Mont? Academy in Dresher nearPhiladelphia, PA, took courses at Faith
Theological Seminary, and loved working
retail at the old Gimbel's Department
Store in King of Prussia, PA. Then we came
to Pembroke? Jr-Sr? High School in Corfu, NY,
where I taught five years and led two
student tours to Europe. I earned my M.S.
in Ed. from SUNY at Brockport 4.0, and
moved to the Town of Lewiston near Lake
Ontario, NY, to become an assistant
principal at Lewiston-Porter C.S.D. for
nearly 25 years. I built an international
exchange program that included:Minsk, Belarus; Germany, Australia, Canada,France, Japan, Spain, and Venezuela! I took
the students to Belarus, Germany, andAustralia, and later a small group to theU.K. I also had a cable TV show and
produced student video movies!

I took all courses at 3.8+ for a doctorate
at SUNY at Buffalo on a Presidential
Fellowship (1/100/6840 grad students --
top 5%), but a 13 page survey was a problem
in completing a dissertation!
I retired from Lew-Port in June of 2001,
fairly disgusted with school
administration. I have a red belt in
karate, used to bench 265 (I weigh 155),
and always loved working with students.
I did complete a "distance doctorate". For
a time, I worked in real estate and did
retail again at the Boulevard Mall in the
Kaufmann's Men's Store (part of the large
May Company). My daughter has both a B.S.
in Management from Buffalo'sCanisius? College and an A.A.S. summa cum
laude from the F.I.T.
in Manhattan. She works for Calvin Klein,
and I love to visit her in NYC and at herBrooklyn? Heights apartment. I love to
write for both print and Web, to do video,
and have numerous other interests. I was
recently hired at Bishop Timon -St. Jude
H.S. in South Buffalo, as their Latin
teacher. I am grateful to many Internet
lit. sites and to all my readers!!!

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~**~**~

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Where is your brother?

Sharon Bryant? 

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I met Gloria, my friend who lived down the street, on that morning for the six blocks walk to school in 1955. ?  My brother, almost four years younger than me, always tagged along behind us.?  I was in fourth grade, he was in Kindergarten.?  Mom always made me watch out for him.

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I kept turning around while walking down the block, he was behind us.?  The next time I looked, before we got to the school, I didn't see him.?  I figured he'd ran back to the house and gram or mom would walk him to school.?  I went on to school.

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When school let out, Gloria and I walked back home together.?  Her house was before mine, so I told her I'd see her the next day and I walked alone to my house.? 

The minute I got inside the door, mom said, "Where is your brother?"?  I told her I hadn't seen him since morning.?  "What!?  You mean he didn't go to school?" she asked.?  "Nope, not with me," I replied.

Gram and mom ran upstairs.?  They checked in closets, even inside the old Murphy bed in gram and grandpa's bedroom.?  They looked under beds.?  They looked everywhere.?  My brother was not to be found.?  I even thought he was hiding inside gram's fur coat in her closet so I ran upstairs to see, but no brother there.

Mom and gram? ran outside looking behind rose bushes, the little shed, and began asking all the neighbors if anyone had seen him.?  No one had.

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Gram called the police.?  They came and asked me over and over when was the last time I saw him.?  What was he wearing.?  A thousand questions over and over.?  I was getting scared about this time because it was getting close to supper time and it would be dark soon.?  Where was my brother??  I had no idea.

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After talking to mom and gram, the police left.?  I watched out the big bay window as their car pulled away.?  The sun was setting low and I knew it would be dark soon.?  Gram and mom were worried sick.?  Dad and grandpa was due home from work soon and I knew they'd go out looking for my brother once they got home.

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Gram had a habit of tossing water out the back door next to the porch by her rose bushes.?  When she stepped out on the porch, she saw one of the rose bushes moving.?  She ran down the steps and peeked beneath the porch.?  It was dark under there.?  But she heard a giggle.?  She crawled under the porch and saw a dirty faced little five-year-old boy called my brother.?  She dragged him out from under the porch and took him inside the house.

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"Where have you been all day?" asked my mom??  "Why didn't you follow your sister to school like you do every day?? 

With the biggest grin on that dirty little face, I watched as my brother held out his arms and yelled out,

I skipped school!"

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Afterward dad crawled under the porch and found trucks, a loaf of bread and peanut butter and jelly.

He never skipped school again and I made sure he was walking along side me from that day on.

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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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Deepak Morris, "THE CHAIR" - I enjoyed this story, it was very touching.? ? ?  Gabrielle Morgan.

Prayer Requests and Updates

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Many of you know that I have had cancer.?  Luckily, mine was caught in time before I had to face chemo, radiation, etc.? ? ?  I had four surgeries before they got it all.?  I have been in remission for eight years now.?  My husband also had Hodgkin's Disease and he's been in remission for several years now.

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To be told you do have cancer can play on your mind.?  It can put you into depression you never knew existed.?  If can make you want to give up.?  It affects all those around you who love and care about you when they watch you going downhill.?  I lost one of my best friends four years ago of this horrendous disease.

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I have a friend who is facing this right now.?  He is elderly, he's had radiation, but the damage it did to him, they cannot use radiation again.?  He now? has to take chemo.

The sad thing is the doctors thought they got all the cancer with the radiation.?  But somehow part of the cancer detached and began growing in another part of his body.?  He was told this past Friday the cancer is growing in another part of the body.

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This man is a beautiful person, a good father, husband and is loved by all.?  His family is upset because of the drastic change in his personality.?  I'm am trying all I can do to lift his spirits.?  When he took radiation and I sent him cards, he later told me how much they meant to him.

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I am asking anyone out there, if you would please send one card to this man.?  I know it will help him so much as he faces another ordeal with this dreaded disease.

I lost my mom of cancer, and I know? she went through so much.?  It broke my family's hearts to? see the foundation of? our family? suffer so much.?  ?  Anyone out there who has had to deal with cancer knows how much this disease can destroy.

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Cards can be sent to:

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Abe Urso

Dunmore, Pennsylvania?  18512

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Abe loves funny things, he's always loved to laugh.?  Something cute just to say howdy would be wonderful.

I thank you all so much.?  This would mean a lot to?  Abe, his family, and to me.

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God Bless,

Sharon Bryant

www.angelsrememberd.tk

In memory

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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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Send all inquires about the newsletter including submission requirements:

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