Not Looking

When you thought I wasn't looking because my eyes were closed real tight, I felt you bend over to kiss me good night and I knew I would never be afraid of the dark again.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw silver tears leaking from your eyes and I knew that sometimes it is okay to cry.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you sneak a look at me, and smile to yourself and I knew without a word being said that you really cared for me.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I was watching you and all the little things mounted up to a mountain of love and so now I want to say Thank you, Daddy.  Thank you for all the things I saw when you thought I wasn't looking.  They have meant all the world to me.

Nurturing the family in these times, by Earl H. Roberts.

Some of J. T. Hale's ancestors signed the Declaration of Independence.  Nathan Hale is counted as one of his relatives.  (They come from the same Hale family)  These are parts of his own personal heritage but ALL the signers of the Declaration are part of every American's heritage.  That means Nathan Hale can be a hero to all of us.  After all, if you go back far enough all of us are related to kings, queens, and all the other rapscallions too.

The recipe for keeping the modern family together still begins in the kitchen.

Abraham Lincoln's Thanksgiving Day Proclamation  

I've learned, I have!  I've not had the best time of my life! But, I have learned to accept the bad with the good. You do not know what your life will bring tomorrow, so enjoy all that you've been given today.

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They sat around moping when Daddy died because he had not left them any legacy. They were so down in the mouth that I stood up and volunteered to pay Daddy back for that time he drove 350 miles to get me when my car blowed up and my whole family was stranded on the road. "I figure that kind of service call is worth a thousand dollars because he kind of done it on credit and I never paid the bill. I'll put that in the pot for yawl a legacy to divide up." 

Down with the Willow... Daddy always was a better man than I;  How do you deal with that?  The Willow was bigger than both of us.

Pray for your spouse because in these treacherous times there are forces threatening us in the workplace as never before.

Whistle -- an inspirational Father's Day Story because the promises we forget are usually the ones never forgot.

The First Day of School is always the toughest, by Lin Stone

There Are Gypsies In My Dreams 

Pretty Pictures taken by a father who might could have been something.  If only, if only.

Smiles, by Filomena Borsellino.  A smile is the sweetest Treasure on Earth.

Michael was not my problem.  When he first came to us he was a bundle of boyish energy, too large for his age and too bright for his years. It was said that he ran his poor grandmother to death, and having seen them together I believed it. It’s strange. All of us believed it, but none of us helped, not like we should have. Oh, we hoped she could hold out, and some of us probably prayed God would give her more strength. But somehow we all felt Michael was HER problem, and not ours.

The Ice Cream "Comb" by Rick Beneteau because Quitting is never an option.

Ice Memories that never get cold, by Lin Stone

I Can't Remember You:  That first shock of being forgotten by someone we love is enough to turn our world upside down.  All I could think of to say was, "I am someone you have been very kind to over many years." 

Kids and Sunday School, by J. Edgar Hoover.

Grandma's Bath Tub, an essay of love by Lin Stone

Doing the Dishes:  Take pride in who you are and what you like doing, even if there are some to this day who believe that gender should decide what we like or dislike and doing the dishes is for sissies. 

Living with Spina Bifida, a poet's story.

The Hug.. Sometimes, no matter how hard we try, we can't get what we want until we give it away to someone else first.

Remember Grandpa:  Nearly 17 years later, I can still hear grandpa's laughter, still smell grandma's coffee, still shiver at the memory of how cold those rivers were.

Why Teach Your Child To Read?  Reading problems are a further challenge to our world by contribute significantly to the perpetuation of socio-economic, racial and ethnic inequities. However it is not just poor and minority children who struggle with reading. According to the 2002 national report card on reading by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), most of our children (64%) are less than proficient in reading even after 12 years of our attempts to teach them.