Forward Ever Forward

A young couple were driving down the road one day, happily, deliriously in love and due to be married the next day. Suddenly, a large truck swerved from the oncoming lanes into their car! BOOM! And they both died.

At the Pearly Gates, the young couple confronted St. Peter. “Sir, you have to help us! We were to be married tomorrow. Is there any way we can be married in Heaven?”

“Hmmm,” replied St. Peter, “I don’t recall there ever being a marriage in Heaven. Well, let’s take it up with God and see what he says.”

So they approached God with their plea. God sat for a moment, pondering the request. Then he looked down and said, “Come back in five years and ask me again.”

Five years later, the couple approached God again, even more in love than ever and pleading that he allow their marriage. God paused for quite a while, musing over their request. Then he spoke, “Come back in five years and ask me again.”

And once again, five years later, the couple was again in the presence of God, more in love than ever and begging God’s permission for the third time to marry. This time God smiled broadly and thundered, “Yes my children, you may marry!”

Well, the wedding went off beautifully, the reception was huge, everyone thought the bride was simply breathtaking and the groom was soooo handsome, and everyone was happy! Until…

Two years later, the couple was back before God, and things were not looking so good. The couple had come to the realization almost immediately that although marriages were made in heaven, they didn’t last very long there! And, in spite of their struggles to come to terms with the situation, they had decided there simply was no alternative but to get a divorce.

Black clouds fractured by lightening rolled across the sky, and the ground shook with explosive thunder. God glared down at the tiny couple before him, his face becoming dark and angry, and he roared, “Divorce?! Impossible!!! It took us TEN years just to find a priest in Heaven! Do you have any idea how long it will take to find a LAWYER?!

The yellow shirt had long sleeves, four extra-large pockets trimmed in black thread and snaps up the front. It was faded from years of wear, but still in decent shape. I found it in 1963 when I was home from college on Christmas break, rummaging through bags of clothes Mom intended to give away.

‘You’re not taking that old thing, are you?’ Mom said when she saw me packing the yellow shirt.. ‘I wore that when I was pregnant with your brother in 1954!’

‘It’s just the thing to wear over my clothes during art class, Mom. Thanks!’ I slipped it into my suitcase before she could object. The yellow shirt be came a part of my college wardrobe. I loved it.

After graduation, I wore the shirt the day I moved into my new apartment and on Saturday mornings when I cleaned.

The next year, I married. When I became pregnant, I wore the yellow shirt during big-belly days. I missed Mom and the rest of my family, since we were in Colorado and they were in Illinois . But, that shirt helped. I smiled, remembering that Mother had worn it when she was pregnant, 25 years earlier.

That Christmas, mindful of the warm feelings the shirt had given me, I patched one elbow, wrapped it in holiday paper and sent it to Mom. When Mom wrote to thank me for her ‘real’ gifts, she said the yellow shirt was lovely. She never mentioned it again..

The next year, my husband, daughter and I stopped at Mom and Dad’s to pick up some furniture. Days later, when we uncrated the kitchen table, I noticed something yellow taped to its bottom. The shirt!

And so the pattern was set.

On our next visit home, I secretly placed the shirt under Mom and Dad’s mattress. I don’t know how long it took for her to find it, but almost two years passed before I discovered it under the base of our living-room floor lamp. The yellow shirt was just what I needed now while refinishing furniture. The walnut stains added character.

In 1975 my husband and I divorced. With my three children, I prepared to move back to Illinois . As I packed, a deep depression overtook me. I wondered if I could make it on my own. I wondered if I would find a job. I paged through the Bible, looking for comfort. In Ephesians, I read, ‘So use every piece of God’s armor to resist the enemy whenever he attacks, and when it is all over, you will be standing up.’

I tried to picture myself wearing God’s armor, but all I saw was the stained yellow shirt. Slowly, it dawned on me. Wasn’t my mother’s love a piece of God’s armor? My courage was renewed.

Unpacking in our new home, I knew I had to get the shirt back to Mother. The next time I visited her, I tucked it in her bottom dresser drawer.

Meanwhile, I found a good job at a radio station. A year later I discovered the yellow shirt hidden in a rag bag in my cleaning closet.

Something new had been added Embroidered in bright green across the breast pocket were the words ‘I BELONG TO PAT.’

Not to be outdone, I got out my own embroidery materials and added an apostrophe and seven more letters.

Now the shirt proudly proclaimed, ‘I BELONG TO PAT’S MOTHER.’ But I didn’t stop there. I zig-zagged all the frayed seams, then had a friend mail the shirt in a fancy box to Mom from Arlington , VA. We enclosed an official looking letter from ‘The Institute for the Destitute,’ announcing that she was the recipient of an award for good deeds.

I would have given anything to see Mom’s face when she opened the box. But, of course, she never mentioned it.

Two years later, in 1978, I remarried. The day of our wedding, Harold and I put our car in a friend’s garage to avoid practical jokers. After the wedding, while my husband drove us to our honeymoon suite, I reached for a pillow in the car to rest my head. It felt lumpy. I unzipped the case and found, wrapped in wedding paper, the yellow shirt. Inside a pocket was a note: ‘Read John 14:27-29. I love you both, Mother.’

That night I paged through the Bible in a hotel room and found the verses: ‘I am leaving you with a gift: peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn’t fragile like the peace the world gives. So don’t be troubled or afraid. Remember what I told you: I am going away, but I will come back to you again. If you really love me, you will be very happy for me, for now I can go to the Father, who is greater than I am. I have told you these things before they happen so that when they do, you will believe in me.’

The shirt was Mother’s final gift. She had known for three months that she had terminal Lou Gehrig’s disease. Mother died the following year at age 57.

I was tempted to send the yellow shirt with her to her grave. But I’m glad I didn’t, because it is a vivid reminder of the love-filled game she and I played for 16 years. Besides, my older daughter is in college now, majoring in art. And every art student needs a baggy yellow shirt with big pockets.

Her hair was up in a pony tail,

her favorite dress tied with a bow.

Today was Daddy’s Day at school,

and she couldn’t wait to go.

~~~

But her mummy tried to tell her,

that she probably should stay home.

Why the kids might not understand,

if she went to school alone.

~~~

But she was not afraid;

she knew just what to say.

What to tell her classmates

of why he wasn’t there today.

~~~

But still her mother worried,

for her to face this day alone.

And that was why once again,

she tried to keep her daughter home.

~~~

But the little girl went to school

eager to tell them all.

About a dad she never sees

a dad who never calls.

~~~

There were daddies along the back wall,

for everyone to meet.

Children squirming impatiently,

anxious in their seats.

~~~

One by one the teacher called

a student from the class.

To introduce their daddy,

as seconds slowly passed.

~~~

At last the teacher called her name,

every child turned to stare.

Each of them was searching,

a man who wasn’t there.

~~~

‘Where’s her daddy at?’

She heard a boy call out.

‘She probably doesn’t have one,’

another student dared to shout.

~~~

And from somewhere near the back,

she heard a daddy say,

‘Looks like another deadbeat dad,

too busy to waste his day.’

~~~

The words did not offend her,

as she smiled up at her Mum.

And looked back at her teacher,

who told her to go on.

~~~

And with hands behind her back,

slowly she began to speak

And out from the mouth of a child,

came words incredibly unique.

~~~

‘My Daddy couldn’t be here,

because he lives so far away.

But I know he wishes he could be,

since this is such a special day.

~~~

And though you cannot meet him,

I wanted you to know.

All about my daddy,

and how much he loves me so.

~~~

He loved to tell me stories

he taught me to ride my bike.

He surprised me with pink roses,

and taught me to fly a kite.

~~~

We used to share fudge sundaes,

and ice cream in a cone.

And though you can not see him.

I’m not standing here alone.

~~~

‘Cause my daddy’s always with me,

even though we are apart

I know because he told me,

he’ll forever be in my heart.

~~~

With that, her little hand reached up,

and lay across her chest.

Feeling her own heartbeat,

beneath her favorite dress.

~~~

And from  somewhere in the crowd of dads,

her mother stood in tears.

Proudly watching her daughter,

who was wise beyond her years.

~~~

For she stood up for the love

of a man not in her life.

Doing what was best for her,

doing what was right.

~~~

And when she dropped her hand back down,

staring straight into the crowd.

She finished with a voice so soft,

but its message clear and loud.

~~~

‘I love my daddy very much,

he’s my shining star.

And if he could, he’d be here,

but heaven’s just too far.

~~~

You see he is a soldier

And died just this past year

When a roadside bomb hit his convoy

and taught brave men to fear.

~~~

But sometimes when I close my eyes,

it’s like he never went away.’

And then she closed her eyes,

and saw him there that day.

~~~

And to her mother’s amazement,

she witnessed with surprise.

A room full of daddies and children,

all starting to close their eyes.

~~~

Who knows what they saw before them,

who knows what they felt inside.

Perhaps for merely a second,

they saw him at her side.

~~~

‘I know you’re with me Daddy,’

to the silence she called out.

And what happened next made believers,

of those once filled with doubt.

~~~

Not one in that room could explain it,

for each of their eyes had been closed.

But there on the desk beside her,

was a fragrant long – stemmed pink rose.

And a child was blessed, if only for a moment,

by the love of her shining star.

And given the gift of believing,

that heaven is never too far.

IN MEMORY . . . . .

of anyone you know who has been struck down by cancer or is still living with it.

These are the colors that represent the different cancers.

All you are asked to do is keep this circulating.

Even if it’s to one more person.

Even if it’s only to one more person.

A Candle Loses Nothing by Lighting Another Candle.

Dear God, I pray for the cure of cancer. Amen

“They do not love that do not show their love.”

William Shakespeare, Two Gentlemen of Verona

A week of Love

The Legendary Pepé  Le Pew

A week of love

A week of love

EARLY VALENTINE

A friend sent an early “Valentine” to see if it will make it  around the world by Feb. 14th.

For God so loVed the world,
That He GAve
His onLy
BegottEn
SoN
That whosoever
Believeth In Him
Should Not  perish,
But have Everlasting life.”
John 3:16

Send it around the world…

A week of love

I heart Parpis