Cherish the Special Moments with your Children and Grandchildren.

The Last Time

From the moment you hold your baby in your arms,
you will never be the same.
You might long for the person you were before, 
When you had freedom and time,
And nothing in particular to worry about.

You will know tiredness like you never knew it before,
And days will run into days that are exactly the same,
Full of feedings and burping,
Nappy changes and crying,
Whining and fighting,
Naps or a lack of naps,
It might seem like a never-ending cycle.

But don’t forget …
There is a last time for everything.
There will come a time when you will feed
your baby for the very last time.
They will fall asleep on you after a long day
And it will be the last time you ever hold your sleeping child.

One day you will carry them on your hip then set them down,
And never pick them up that way again.
You will scrub their hair in the bath one night
And from that day on they will want to bathe alone.
They will hold your hand to cross the road,
Then never reach for it again.
They will creep into your room at midnight for cuddles,
And it will be the last night you ever wake to this.

One afternoon you will sing “the wheels on the bus”
and do all the actions,
Then never sing them that song again.
They will kiss you goodbye at the school gate,
The next day they will ask to walk to the gate alone.
You will read a final bedtime story and wipe your last dirty face.
They will run to you with arms raised for the very last time.

The thing is, you won’t even know it’s the last time
Until there are no more times.
And even then, it will take you a while to realize.

So while you are living in these times,
remember there are only so many of them
and when they are gone, you will yearn for just one more day of them.
For one last time.

-Author Unknown-

Give the Children back their Childhood.

Give the children back their childhood
Let the children run and play.
Don’t make them fight your battles
They’re the ones who always seem to pay.

Don’t make battlefields of their playgrounds
Don’t barricade their streets
Or they’ll grow up to soon
And they won’t grow up complete.

You can raise them on your hatred;
Revel in it, that’s your right
But if you do just remember
It’ll haunt their sleep at night.

A little mommy feeds her baby
Giving all the love she knows.
A tiny builder’s building bridges
to a world in which he’s going to grow.

Give the children back their childhood
Let the children run and play
And skip away on wings of fantasy
And dream of what they’ll be some day.

Don’t feed their minds with your bitter lines
And the prejudice that is yours
And they just may forget some day to carry on our wars.
And they just may forget some day to carry on our wars.

Remembering a Loved One

Jealous of the Angels    Donna Taggart

I didn't know today would be our last
Or that I'd have to say goodbye to you so fast
I'm so numb, I can't feel anymore
Prayin' you'd just walk back through that door
And tell me that I was only dreamin'
You're not really gone as long as I believe

There will be another angel
Around the throne tonight
Your love lives on inside of me,
And I will hold on tight
It's not my place to question,
Only God knows why
I'm just jealous of the angels
Around the throne tonight

You always made my troubles feel so small
And you were always there to catch me when I'd fall
In a world where heroes come and go
Well God just took the only one I know
So I'll hold you as close as I can
Longing for the day, when I see your face again
But until then

God must need another angel
Around the throne tonight
Your love lives on inside of me
And I will hold on tight
It's not my place to question
Only God knows why
I'm just jealous of the angels
Around the throne tonight

Singing Halleluia, Halleluia, Halleluia.                                                                                     I’m just jealous of the Angels                                                                                                              Around the throne tonight.

"Respectful Memory for 11th of the 11th."

The Green Fields of France

Well how do you do young Willie McBride?
Do you mind if I sit down here by your graveside ?
And rest for a while 'neath the warm summer sun 
I've been walkin' all day and I'm nearly done
I see by your gravestone you were only nineteen 
When you joined the great fallen in 1916
 I hope you died well and I hope you died clean 
Or young Willie McBride was it slow and obscene ?

Did they beat the drums slowly ?                                                                                             Did they play the fife lowly ? 
Did they sound the death march as they lowered you down ?
Did the band play the last post and chorus ?
Did the pipes play the "Flowers of the Forest" ?
 
Did you leave a wife or a sweetheart behind ? 
In some faithful heart is your memory enshrined ?
Although you died back in 1916 
In that faithful heart are you forever nineteen?
Or are you a stranger without even a name  ?                                                                        
Enclosed down forever behind a glass pane
In an ould photograph torn tattered and stained,                                                                                           And faded to yellow in a brown leather frame?


The sun now it shines on the green fields of France 
There’s a warm summer breeze,it makes the red poppies dance
And look how the sun shines from under the clouds, 
There's no gas no barbed wire, there's no gun firing now
But here in this graveyard it's still No Man's land, 
The countless white crosses stand mute in the sand
To man's blind indifference to his fellow man, 
To a whole generation that was butchered and damned

Now Willie McBride I can't help wonder why
Do those who lie here  know why they died ?
And did they believe when they answered the call ?
Did they really believe that this war would end wars ?
Well the sorrow, the suffering, the glory, the shame 
The killing and dying were all done in vain
For young Willie McBride it's all happened again, 
And again, and again, and again and again.

Live your Journey

Live your Journey

I stood by your bed last night; I came to have a peep. 
I could see that you were crying you found it hard to sleep. 
I spoke to you softly as you brushed away a tear, 
"It's me, I haven't left you, I'm well, I'm fine, I'm here." 
I was close to you at breakfast, I watched you pour the tea, 
You were thinking of the many things and memories of me. 
I was with you at the shops today; your arms were getting sore. 
I longed to take your parcels, I wish I could do more. 
I was with you at my grave today; you tend it with such care. 
I want to re-assure you, that I'm not lying there. 
I walked with you towards the house, as you fumbled for your key. 
I gently put my hand on you; I smiled and said, "it's me." 
You looked so very tired, and sank into a chair. 
I tried so hard to let you know, that I was standing there. 
It's possible for me, to be so near you every day. 
To say to you with certainty, "I never went away." 
You sat there very quietly, then smiled, I think you knew... 
in the stillness of that evening, I was very close to you. 
The day is over... I smile and watch you yawning 
and say "good-night, God bless, I'll see you in the morning." 
And when the time is right for you to cross the brief divide, 
I'll rush across to greet you and we'll stand, side by side. 
I have so many things to show you, there is so much for you to see. 
Be patient, live your journey out...then come home to me.

Author Unknown

Karma - " What Goes Around Comes Around "

What Goes Around, Comes Around... 

A true story, happened in 1892 at Stanford University:

An 18-year-old student was struggling to pay his fees.  He was an orphan, and not knowing where to turn for money,  he came up with a bright idea. 

He and a friend decided to host a musical concert on campus to raise money for their education. They reached out to the great pianist Ignacy J. Paderewski.  His manager demanded a guaranteed fee of $2000 for the piano recital.  A deal was struck and the boys began to work to make the concert a success.

The big day arrived. But unfortunately, they had not managed to sell enough tickets. The total collection was only $1600. 

Disappointed, they went to Paderewski and explained their plight. They gave him the entire $1600, plus a cheque for the balance $400. They promised to honour the cheque at the soonest possible.

“No,” said Paderewski. “This is not acceptable.” He tore up the cheque, returned the $1600 and told the two boys: 

“Here’s the $1600. 

Please deduct whatever expenses you have incurred. Keep the money you need for your fees. And just give me whatever is left”. The boys were surprised, and thanked him profusely.

It was a small act of kindness. But it clearly marked out Paderewski as a great human being.

Why should he help two people he did not even know?  We all come across situations like these in our lives.  And most of us only think “If I help them, what would happen to me?”

The truly great people think, “If I don’t help them, what will happen to them?”  They don’t do it expecting something in return.  They do it because they feel it’s the right thing to do.

Paderewski later went on to become the Prime Minister of Poland. He was a great leader, but unfortunately when the World War began, Poland was ravaged.  There were more than 1.5 million people starving in his country, and no money to feed them.  Paderewski did not know where to turn for help.  He reached out to the US Food and Relief Administration for help. The head there was a man called Herbert Hoover — who later went on to become the US President.  Hoover agreed to help and quickly shipped tons of food grains to feed the starving Polish people. A calamity was averted. Paderewski was relieved. 

He decided to go across to meet Hoover and personally thank him. When Paderewski began to thank Hoover for his noble gesture, Hoover quickly interjected and said,  “You shouldn’t be thanking me Mr. Prime Minister.  You may not remember this, but several years ago, you helped two young students go through college. I was one of them.”

The world is a wonderful place. What goes around comes around!

Anger ... the Nail in the Fence

Anger can harm yourself more than any other

A carpenter went home after shutting down his workshop, a black poisonous cobra entered his workshop.
The cobra was hungry and hoped to find its supper lurking somewhere within. It slithered from one end to another and accidentally bumped into a double-edged metal axe and got very slightly injured.
In anger and seeking revenge, the snake bit the axe with full force. What could a bite do to a metallic axe? Instead the cobra’s mouth started bleeding.
Out of fury and arrogance, the cobra tried its best to strangle and kill the object that was causing it pain by wrapping itself very tightly around the blades.
The next day when the carpenter opened the workshop, he found a seriously cut, dead cobra wrapped around the axe blades.
The cobra died not because of someone else’s fault but faced these consequences merely because of its own anger and wrath.
· Sometimes when angry, we try to cause harm to others but as time passes by, we realise that we have caused more harm to ourselves.
· For a happy life, it’s best we should learn to ignore and overlook some things, people, incidents, affairs and matters.
· It is not necessary that we show a reaction to everything. Step back and ask yourself if the matter is really worth responding or reacting to.
· Let Treat people with kindness even if they hurt you.
· People that show no inclination to change, are best handled with silence and prayer.
 If I hurt someone, grant me the humility courage to ask for forgiveness.

Now read the story…..
  

The Nail in the Fence.

There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence. The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.

Finally the day came when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper. The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.

The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, “You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won’t matter how many times you say I’m sorry, the wound is still there.”

A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one. Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, and they always want to open their hearts to us.

Remembering Mam's Clothesline

Remembering Mom’s Clothesline.

          THE BASIC RULES FOR CLOTHESLINES:                                                                                         (If you don’t even know what clotheslines are ?)

          1. You had to hang the socks by the toes... NOT the top. 

          2. You hung pants by the BOTTOM/cuffs... NOT the waistbands.

          3. You had to WASH the clothesline(s) before hanging any clothes -

          Walk the entire length of each line with a damp cloth around the lines.  

          4. You had to hang the clothes in a certain order, and always hang "whites" with "whites," and hang them first.

          5. You NEVER hung a shirt by the shoulders - always by the tail!

          What would the neighbours think?

          6. Wash day on a Monday! NEVER hang clothes on the weekend,

          Or on Sunday, for Heaven's sake!

          7. Hang the sheets and towels on the OUTSIDE lines so you could

          Hide your "unmentionables" in the middle.

          8. It didn't matter if it was sub-zero weather... Clothes would "freeze-dry."

          9. ALWAYS gather the clothes pegs when taking down dry clothes!

          Pegs left on the lines were "tacky"!

          10. If you were efficient, you would line the clothes up so that each item did not need two clothes pegs, but shared one of the clothes pegs with the next washed item. 

          11. Clothes off of the line before dinner time, neatly folded in the clothes basket, and ready to be ironed.  IRONED??!! Well, that's a whole OTHER subject! 

          12. Long wooden pole (clothes pole) that was used to push the clotheslines up so that longer items (sheets/pants/etc.) didn't brush the ground and get dirty. 

          And now a Poem ... 

          A clothesline was a news forecast, to neighbours passing by,

          There were no secrets you could keep, when clothes were hung to dry.

          It also was a friendly link, for neighbours always knew

          If company had stopped on by, to spend a night or two.

          For then you'd see the "fancy sheets", and towels upon the line;

          You'd see the "company table cloths", with intricate designs.

          The line announced a baby's birth, from folks who lived inside,

          As brand new infant clothes were hung, so carefully with pride!

          The ages of the children could, so readily be known

          By watching how the sizes changed, you'd know how much they'd grown!

          It also told when illness struck, as extra sheets were hung;

          Then night clothes and a bathrobe too, haphazardly were strung. 

          It also said, "On vacation now", when lines hung limp and bare.  

          It told, "We're back!" when full lines sagged, with not an inch to spare!

          New folks in town were scorned upon, if wash was dingy and grey,

          As neighbours carefully raised their brows, and looked the other way.

          But clotheslines now are of the past, for dryers make work much less.

          Now what goes on inside a home, Is anybody's guess!

          I really miss that way of life, it was a friendly sign

          When neighbours knew each other best... By what hung on the line.