Heart Hope by Olga

The young dad in front of me at Subway was taking the orders from his daughters and relaying them to the sandwich makers. It seemed like a close knit family and his three daughters were beautiful enough for me to compliment him on his brood. The younger girls wanted the smaller "kids meal" sandwich, but the 12 year old had out grown that portion and wanted a 6 inch sub. As she observed the sandwiches being made she saw the two kids sandwiches and a foot long sandwich, so she asked her dad if he had ordered hers. The dad motioned to his daughter to be quiet. It was then that it became apparent that he was going to get a foot long and split it with her and didn't want to have to be charged for 2 separate sandwiches. The simple hand gesture requesting her not to ask any questions said a great deal. To his daughter it said the he was doing something wrong, so don't bring it up. I feel that if he had been honest and said, "We are going to share the footlo...

* He didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.  ~Clarence Budington Kelland * A truly rich man is one whose children run into his arms when his hands are empty.  ~Author Unknown  * When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around.  But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.  ~Author unknown, commonly attributed to Mark Twain   Like father, like son...we hear the phrase often. This week I observed it happening in church. A dad sitting with his two year old son was playing around with him, by tapping the child on the head with the bulletin. The young boy immediately climbed up in the chair next to his dad and tapped him on the head with a piece of paper. I laughed to myself thinking that children imitating their parents begins at such an early age. It really makes you think about the importance of our words and actions bec...

When you hear all of the things that 85 year old Mrs. Nathan has been through, you will probably feel sorry for her. One tragedy after another has plagued her life, starting thirty years ago, when she was burned on over 80% of her body by a grease fire that exploded in her kitchen. It almost completely destroyed her hands, actually fusing the fingers together. Because of the acute burning, Mrs. Nathan has had over 53 surgeries to try to correct the damage to her body. That alone would make most people want to give up on life; however this fighting lady has also suffered three strokes and three heart attacks which led to her having a pacemaker implanted to regulate her heart. She has a spot on her liver that they have not been able to determine what it is. Oh and by the way, I think I forgot to mention that she also lost an eye and will be undergoing hip surgery in the near future. If that is not enough, she has lived for the last 22 years in a 500 square foot government assisted housin...