Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

The newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness around the world.

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Feb 21, 2006

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Today??™s announcements

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Update on Hart - - ( Feb 11^th) Hart was recalled to the Vancouver General Hospital on Friday - they had found in previous testing that his body needed further iron infusions.?  He still had a bladder infection and other work has to be done.?  His replacement operation is still on the burner for 11:a.m. Monday unless further complications are found.?  I will be sending out his newsletters, from his computer subscription list,? for the coming week.?  I would certainly appreciate your votes to my website - www.occupytillicome.com? - Many thanks!} Helen.

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Sorry for being so late in sending this out, the newsletters are all made in advance, Hart is home now, and prayers are still needed, there is a threat that he may lose his leg if the infection doesn??™t go down.

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Prayers are needed for: Feb 20/2006 Please remember my mom in your prayers. She was rushed to hospital this morning due to high sugar levels and high blood pressure. My mom is a Diabetic.

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Thank You and God Bless. Silvana Cape Town South Africa

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We have another new writer today who has graciously joined our Valentines Contest with her first submission, I remember.?  Please welcome Verica Nikolic, writer # 294, for Storytime Tapestry newsletter.

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Now onto the good stuff!

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Today??™s Valentine Contest Stories

~**~**~

A Sad Goodbye

Aro? 

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Pepper, age 15? is depressed, and Little Bit, age 11 and blind, is still searching. Both dogs realize my son is gone.? 

Tanner is winging his way back to GA after a two week leave.?  He has reenlisted for four more years in the Army, and it was a very difficult day for him because he was leaving Pepper. She has always been more his dog than mine. She goes? crazy when he comes home, sleeps with him and? won't leave his side.

We were getting ready to leave for the airport. I saw him walk over and kiss the top of her head.

? "Well old girl, I guess this is the last time I'll see you alive. By the time I come back here, you'll be gone. We had some? fun times though didn't we girl."

At this point, I had to leave the house. I went out and started the car. It was at least five minutes before he came out, and even though he had his sun glasses on, I could tell he had been crying.

He was 13 when we got her. He taught her the fun things....like how to sit on a wooden kitchen chair, how to put her paws on the counter to steal food, how to jump up & put her paws on his shoulders...shoulders today that were heavy with emotion over leaving his best friend, knowing that she is 15, and knowing he will not be home for at least two years and knowing more than likely, she will be gone by then.

As he walked out the door, I saw him turn, look at her one more time, and I could hear him say "Love you girl. "

I watched this 24 year old Soldier, one who always walks proud, with his head held high...hang his head...knowing she will never again jump up to welcome him home, never force her way onto the couch and mold her body to his while he sleeps, never put her head under his hand, insisting on being petted.

And my heart broke, for him and for Pepper.

Tonight I cry. I cry because one of the last things Tanner said was "I don't know when I'll see you again Mom."

And I look at Pepper, and I cry. Because I know that she knows, ? he is gone, and she misses him.? 

I watch Little Bit...sniffing the air for him, listening for his? footsteps.? I see both dogs, lying on the blanket he used. And I cry...because I know that blanket will never again, warm all three of them at the same time.

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aro

2006

Arolittlebit1@aol.com

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Writing is what lights me up. To create a story from a word, a phrase, or a thought, is my passion. To "touch" a reader is the reward of writing.
I live in CT, help raise baby cows and have two dogs, Little Bit and his Mom, Pepper. I am also the Proud Parent of a US Soldier.

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~**~**~

A letter? and a poem to Molly:? ? 

Paula Booher

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~**~**~

I Remember

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Verica Nikolic? 

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I remember that cold snowy January.?  My husband and I both silent
and somber as we maneuvered the icy streets of our Denver suburb.? 
We were gripped each in our own prison of fear of what lay before
us.?  It had been months since we had any money coming in, and this
trip marked the end of our rope.? ?  We had just finished counting out
the last of our change in order to get some groceries.?  We knew we
had to be extra frugal and get as much sustenance as our meager
funds could provision.?  We had to make it last.

With calculator in hand we shopped.?  Making sure we both agreed on
each item.?  We made our way to the checkout, still surrounded in our
foggy rooms of fearful shadows.? 

At the checkout we were both knocked out of our rapt attention to
the horrors that potentially lay before us by the girl at the
register announcing we had change...CHANGE?

Three dollars and fifty cents to be exact.?  My husband and I glanced
up at each other with a smile...the first in days, maybe, sadly,
even weeks.? ?  We both were humored at this $3.50.?  What could that
buy??  No matter I stuffed it in my purse, and silently gave up a
prayer that it be a seed for more to come.

As we made our way from the store into the cold, windy drizzle of
the winter evening, we pushed the cart up to the back of the vehicle
to unload our golden bounty.?  As we were loading the car, an elderly
woman approached, pulling her jacket tight against the harsh winter
onslaught, she asked if we might have some money to spare...She only
needed $2.50 to catch a bus back home.? 

My husband and I looked into each others eyes yet again and smiled;
tears now forming there in reflected sodium lights.?  I reached into
my purse and handed this woman the change we'd been given.?  She
began to protest that it was more than she needed... (Did you hear
that it was MORE than she needed...a voice in my head said to me)?? 
Through a face now obscured by salty wet tears of gratitude and
humility, I handed her the money and choked out "it's the last of
our money...we just bought a car full of groceries, and we can't buy
much with this, but if you can get home...and perchance if a
stranger should ask you for some spare money, then you too will be
gifted in turn as you have gifted my husband and I tonight".? 

She took the money and hugged us both.?  By now hubby had loaded the
car and put the cart away.?  We both sat into the car silently
closing the doors.?  We then just held each other for what seemed
like an eternity; sobbing in gratitude in each others arms.?  This
was joy of the kind no words can measure.?  The outpouring of love
within us; that even in our perceived worst moments, we could still
be of some help to others.?  This was a realization that we were rich
beyond measure.?  CHANGE indeed.

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Verica Nikolic

brokenswine@yahoo.com

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38 year old female, living in AZ/USA...runs her own company, degree in chemistry, interests include gardening, beadwork, writing, reading, metaphysics, quantum physics, consciousness studies, comparative religious studies, reside with husband, two dogs, a cat and a couple of fish tanks...and tons of plants. :)

nickname online: pixiepig

nickname at work: mike

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~**~**~

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LOST LOVE? 

Gabrielle Morgan

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? ? ? ? ?  Love became a lament, an echo in the heart, a memory that would not leave.

? ? ? ? ?  They said?  I was too young, too young to be in love.? ?  But I never forgot.

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? ?  The man I loved didn??™t conform to my family??™s conventional expectations.?  He was

Italian, therefore alien to my cultural heritage.?  But I was gripped by this love; it

was the very nectar of my being.?  It led me to a new awareness of my womanhood

and fed my nervous soul. The undeniable force of an infectious smile and words of

adoration from a foreign tongue was too hard to resist.

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He spoke of the beauty of the country he had left behind.

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? ? ? ? ?  ???One day I take you to Italy,??? he promised.?  It became my dream.

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? ?  I studied his language and became one with his family.?  We couldn??™t be parted.?  He

? ?  was Romeo and I his Juliette.? ?  My parents became worried and sent me to stay in

? ?  another state.?  He followed and was ordered away.?  Damacles Sword fell.?  The

? ?  break-up was devastating to both of us.? 

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? ?  Years passed and we both married other people.? ?  My marriage ended in divorce.

? ?  He remained with his wife and three children.

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? ?  But there were always unanswered questions.?  Were my parent??™s objections valid, or

? ?  had I given up on the love of my life??  Had I idealized this relationship??  Is there

? ?  such a thing as true love, or was that just a myth that Hollywood had created for us?

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? ? ? ?  I pondered these questions as I blundered through life??™s experiences, until one day I

? ? ? ?  met him again.?  He hadn??™t expected to see me, so his reaction was sincere.

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???Julietta!??? he beamed as recognition dawned.

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? I felt shy and awkward, ???Yes, it??™s me.???

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? ?  ???I can??™t believe,??? he said.?  He came out from behind the counter of the Supermarket

? ?  that he owned and kissed me as though I was a loved friend.?  I was aware of the smell

? ?  of his skin, something I had forgotten.?  He was real, no more a figment of my

? ?  imaginings.?  He hadn??™t changed except for the addition of glasses to his face.?  I

? ?  realised in that moment why I had loved him and a deep sadness overcame me.?  He

? ?  was a considerate and responsible citizen of Australia who had worked hard to own

? ?  his own business and educate his children, not a tempestuous Maffia driven Italian as

? ?  my mother was prone to think all Italians must be.? 

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It was too late to change destiny, but the meeting helped us both to heal wounds of a deep, thwarted love.?  Now I know I was right.?  The naturally expressed emotions of my youth that had responded to the passionate, heartfelt ardour of the man who had loved me, was the most profound love that I would ever feel.?  It remains in our hearts as a memory too strong to erase.? 

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? ?  ?© GABRIELLE MORGAN.

Gabrielle_Nicholls @hotmail.com

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About Me:
I LIVE IN A RURAL AREA IN EAST VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA. I AM

MARRIED TO? ? ? FELLOW WRITER AND ARTIST, MICHAEL MORGAN. I

BELIEVE IN PEOPLE, IN LOVE, AND IN WRITING I FIND THIS THE

DEEPEST WAY OF MAGNIFYING IT. I LIKE THE GENTLE. I HONOUR

WHAT HAS BEEN PROVEN TO BE OF GOODNESS, QUALITY AND

BEAUTY. THE ANGELS AND SAINTS INSPIRE ME.

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Poetry Valentines Contest Section

~**~**~

An Odd Valentine's Note:?  ? 

(Happy Valentine's Day Honey)
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  now pucker up!
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  Sassy Sade

Paula Booher
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?  I wouldn't be as happy as I am if...
?  I hadn't become a parent at two,
?  If Daddy hadn't left when I was five
?  I may not have known you.
?  I wouldn't be the strong spirit if...
?  I didn't Learn to be kind natured early ,
?  If bullies hadn't pushed me so hard
?  So I'd Have to get UP steady and surely.
?  It wasn't in the cards for me to be pampered
?  They hadn't been invented yet,
?  Good old fashioned cotton diapers
?  Came with the country vet.
?  I suppose I'm rough around the edges
?  I was raised in a bar or two,
?  Got knocked around a little
?  I'm better for the bruises black and blue.
?  I always hated the color pink
?  Dresses just weren't my style,
?  Flowers only dried up quick anyway
?  Balloons to this day are always worthwhile.
?  Some say I'm a bit whacky
?  I'd have to agree they are right,
?  I don't spend much time being stressed or sad
?  Lonely, depressed, or uptight.
?  I'm happy, go lucky and friendly
?  I always look on the brighter side of life,
?  Cause there just isn't alot of time for wrinkles for me
?  For I desire to be a pretty Old wife!
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?  copyright Paula Deann Booher @ poetry.com

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Readers Feedback

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Fun with Food - LOL.....this one sure brought some memories to me Carol.

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HI carol-- I too prefer tea...didn't start out that way. hated it as a
kid, but loved the sneak a sip of daddy's sweet coffee. Mama used to
drink hers balck..horrible stuff...over the years, my tastes have
changed and I can't get along w/o at least 2 glasses of iced tea a
day....still don't care for it warm. Maybe that too will change with
time.

Prayer Requests and Updates

I was able to speak with Mr. Schouten this afternoon, he's always a joy to speak with. The surgeons set a date. I will be gone on the 13th for Pre admission testing, meeting with the surgeons, nephrologists and anesthesiologists. Then I come home for a week and go back for the surgery. My surgery will be on the 21st and so if you would please pray for me and ask whoever you think might pray also, we would just like for God to see favor upon this surgery and let this work for Mr. Schouten. It would sure be nice to see him get his life back. God brought us together so I feel that He will do well for us but you? know... a little worthy praise of Him never hurts. And I really appreciate your support and your prayers during this and the recovery. It will make such a huge impact and always helps, Tami Brody

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Senior Writers

Chief writer: Sharon Bryant

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Agee, Vance; Apted, Violet; Baker, Kathy; Batt, Al; Berry, Nell; Blaine, Pamela; Boda, Ginger; Buhagiar, Victor; Cassady, B.J.; Cavalera, Robyn; Crider, Mark; Deming, Barb; Doherty, Maria; Gilbert, Robert, Jr.; Goodier, Steve; Braun-Haley, Ellie; Harris, Kathy Anne; Hunt, Sharlett; Hymes, Christina; Jacobson, Gary; Kiser, Roger Dean; Kerens, Claudia; Kevin, Tim; Jenkins, Pamela; Liles, Norma; Lily Jodi Flesberg; Lock, Joyce; Mazzella, Joe; Morris, Deepak; Ojeibge, 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, Gordon, K; Walsh, Sue; Weymouth, Barbara J.; Whirity, Kathy; White Robert;

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Storytime Tapestry Staff

Carol Roach - Founder/publisher

Thelma Hartselle - Co-Founder, Moderator

Clara Westerfer ??“ moderator

Bob Johnston - moderator

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