02

Dean Martin was singing to me in my Magic Shower again today. Well, what else could I do?!?

Free Memories Saying with Border Cross Stitch Pattern - Free Printable Chart

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Today would also have been

Ronnie Sanders' ('65) (deceased - 10/08/06) 60th Birthday. Sigh.

And would you look at all the other birthdays we have just this week!

05 - the Valedictorian of the Class of 1965, Charles Braslow of the Virgin Islands AND

Mark Hutcherson ('66) of VA, and it would have been

the late Dickie Krause' ('57) (deceased - 12/27/99) 70th Birthday. Sigh.

06 - Sue Miller Dearnley ('64) of VA;

08 - Bob Hines ('66) of VA;
09 - Tina Burroughs Farmer ('62) of VA, the Head Flagtwirler of 1965, Janice McCain Rose of VA, Elliott Smith ('65) of TX?? AND Mary Frances Southall Waller ('66) of VA;
10 - Norm Covert ('61) of MD, Bobby Helmer ('61) of VA, Bernie Helmer ('61) - 1943 (deceased) AND Mike Miller ('65) of NC!

The local restaurant was so sure that its host was the strongest man around that they offered a standing $1000 bet. The host would squeeze a lemon until all the juice ran into a glass, and hand the lemon to a patron. Anyone who could squeeze one more drop of juice out would win the money. Many people had tried over time (weight lifters, longshoremen, etc.), but nobody could do it.

Then one day, this scrawny little man came in, wearing thick glasses and a polyester suit, and said in a tiny, squeaky voice, 'I'd like to try the bet.'

After the laughter had died down, the host said 'OK,' grabbed a lemon, and squeezed away. Then he handed the wrinkled remains of the rind to the little man. But the crowd's laughter turned to total silence as the man clenched his fist around the lemon and not just one but six drops fell into the glass!

As the crowd cheered, the host paid the $1000, and asked the little man, 'What do you do for a living? Are you a lumberjack, a weight lifter, or what?'

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The Healing Sage

There once was a wise sage who wandered the countryside. One day, as he passed near a village, he was approached by a woman who told him of a sick child nearby. She beseeched him to help this child.

So the sage came to the village, and a crowd gathered around him, for such a man was a rare sight. One woman brought the sick child to him, and he said a prayer over her.

"Do you really think your prayer will help her, when medicine has failed?" yelled a man from the crowd.

"You know nothing of such things! You are a stupid fool!" said the sage to the man.

The man became very angry with these words and his face grew hot and red. He was about to say something, or perhaps strike out, when the sage walked over to him and said: "If one word has such power as to make you so angry and hot, may not another have the power to heal?"

And thus, the sage healed two people that day.

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"Language does have the power to change reality.

Therefore, treat your words as the mighty instruments they are - to heal,

to bring into being, to nurture, to cherish, to bless, to forgive."

- Daphne Rose Kingma

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Learn To Speak Their Language

A woman was explaining her theory of putting her children to bed: "I never tell bedtime stories that begin with 'Once upon a time,'" she said. "If I really want to put them to sleep, I start off with, 'Now, when I was your age...'" It's nice to understand people so well that we know just what to say! Here is a mother who could speak her children's language.

The story is told of the most famous elephant in the world -- a huge, beautiful and gentle beast named Bozo. Children extended open palms filled with peanuts for the Indian elephant, who gently plucked them from little hands and seemed to smile as he ate his treats.

But one day, for some inexplicable reason, Bozo changed. He almost stampeded the man who cleaned his cage. He charged children at the circus and became incorrigible. His owner knew he would have to destroy the once-gentle giant.

In order to raise money for a new elephant, the circus owner held a cruel exhibition. He sold tickets to witness Bozo's execution and, on the appointed day, his arena was packed. Three men with high-powered rifles rose to take aim at the great beast's head.

Just before the signal was given to shoot, a little, stubby man in a brown hat stepped out of the crowd and said to the elephant's owner, "Sir, this is not necessary. Bozo is not a bad elephant."

"But he is," the man argued. "We must kill him before he kills someone."

"Sir, give me two minutes alone in his cage," the visitor pleaded, "and I'll prove to you that you are wrong. He is not a bad elephant."

After a few more moments of discussion (and a written statement absolving the circus of liability if the man should be injured), the keeper finally agreed to allow the man inside Bozo's cage. The man removed his brown derby and entered the cage of the bellowing and trumpeting beast.

Before the elephant could charge, the man began to speak to him. Bozo seemed to immediately quiet down upon hearing the man's words. Nearby spectators could also hear the man, but they could not understand him, for he spoke a foreign language. Soon the great animal began to tremble, whine and throw his head about. Then the stranger walked up to Bozo and stroked his trunk. The great elephant tenderly wrapped his trunk around the man, lifted him up and carried him around his cage before carefully depositing him back at the door. Everyone applauded.

As the cage door closed behind him, the man said to Bozo's keeper, "You see, he is a good elephant. His problem is that he is an Indian elephant and understands one language." He explained that Bozo was frustrated and confused. He needed someone who could speak his language. "I suggest, sir, that you find someone in London to come in occasionally and talk to the elephant. If you do, you'll have no problems."

The man picked up his brown derby and walked away. It was at that time that the circus owner looked carefully at the signature on the paper he held in his hand -- the note absolving the circus of responsibility in the case he was injured inside the elephant's cage. The statement was signed by Rudyard Kipling.

People also become frustrated and angry when they are not understood. But great relationships are formed by parents who learn to speak their children's language; lovers who speak each other's language; professionals who speak the language of their staff and clients. When people understand that YOU understand, that you empathize with their heartaches and understand their problems, then you are speaking their language! It is the beginning of true communication.

~ Steve Goodier ~

[ by: Steve Goodier Copyright © 2007 -- from Steve Goodier (LifeSupport@yahoogroups.com) ]

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Whispering Hope

"Thank you." That was the name of the MountainWings I found in my box.

Let me explain. For four years, my dad and I had gone our separate ways. Then one night my son called me, and said, "Mom, sit down. Now this is one time I am going to tell you what to do, and you're going to listen to me, and do what I say." (He is 25 so he can get away with that now.)

"Mom, your dad is sick. He has cancer and it does not look good. It is all through his body, and it's just a matter of months. I want you to call your dad, and make amends, and I want you to do it right now."

I spent 24 hours in prayer, because my mom is a good example of "mommy dearest." I wasn't sure I could take her destruction in my life again. But God showed me I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

I called my father the next evening and I had about a week with him. Actually, about three days.

One Saturday, my husband and I had stopped by to do something for my mother and she asked me to play the old pump organ that I used to play when I was a child. It was my father's mother's. He used to play it when we were growing up.

I sat there and tried to think of something to play. I pulled out all the stops, started pumping up the billows with air, and played the one song he used to play for us when we were kids, "Whispering Hope."

When I finished, I walked into his bedroom and saw the biggest smile on his face. He was rocking his head back and forth to the music, and his face had a smile from ear to ear.

When he realized I was standing beside his bed, I whispered in his ear, trying not to cry, "See Dad, I remembered. I love you and thank you." As he looked at me again, not quite sure who I was, and his smile faded.

He died that night.

And your thank you - it came when I needed it the most for it was my chance to hear his voice once again, and through all the tears that were coming from my face, I told him, "Daddy, you're welcome."

I got to usher my Dad home.

Thank you MountainWings. I have been dealing with many regrets. And your "Thank You" was my miracle this season.

~A MountainWings Original by Cathy Divine, Pipe Creek, Texas~

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Please don't forget to pray for Emily's safety and for those who treat her to do it with compassion and accuracy, with no complications. For those who know me well and my fear of medical mistakes, due to her history, I could use a prayer, as well. I love my baby girl to death, but each time she goes through pain, it feels like it's killing me.

Thanks so very much!!!

From Joyce Lawrence Cahoon ('65) of VA - 02/02/08 - "Watchdog website - created by John Walsh":

From Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 01/31/08 - "..... A Very Long Trip Down Memory Lane - Next Batch - Beacon - 02 November 1961":

Pictures of that cursed groundhog remind me of our time in Chicago, and the elusive woodchuck!

http://bethanyharty.blogspot.com/2007/05/our-woodchuck.html

http://bethanyharty.blogspot.com/2007/06/hes-back.html

The one living under our house. Surely you remember my rants and raves about him. Especially the day that I thought I would do

Brent (Harty - Hillsboro HS, IL - '90 - of OH) a favor, and run over him. My girly side won over, and I swerved at the last second. Couldn't do it. Or the time Brent went after him with the shotgun. So funny. He'd get this crazy look in his eye (Brent, not the woodchuck) every time he sensed the thing was near. He'd give us that, "Shush, I'm hunting wabbits" look, and dart into the house to find something, anything to kill the little bugger with. A shovel, a gun, a big stick. Whatever was near. I don't know if he ever got him or now, but I guess, looking back on it all, it added some spice to our lives.

Too bad there's gonna be more winter. I'm looking forward to spring :( Maybe the nasty little beast was wrong ....

Bethany, you are so funny! Your woodchuck pictures are adorable, too! You made my whole day, but then, you often do - thanks so much!

Carol

Jerry Baker Cobb (66) and I (Jim Cobb - 66) have changed our email address to _______________________ as of 2/2/08. Please update your records and keep us on your list and continue your great work!

Thanks

Jim & Jerry Cobb

Certainly, Shari - and thanks for this beautiful video! I personally have only been inside eight LDS Temples - Salt Lake, Washington, Chicago, Portland, St. Louis, Columbia, Raleigh, and Boston - but of course, there's no such thing as an ugly Temple!

From Jerry Blanchard ('62) of VA - 01/12/08 - "Gas Stations Of Yesteryear-------------------------this IS REAL Americana" (#8 in a Series of 37):

Carol, do not know if you would like to show these or not. Just brings back a lot memories from yesteryear. Hope you like them.

And with a fill-up you got the gas pumped for you, your windshield cleaned, oil and fluids checked, tires checked,
a free map, if you wanted it, and greeted in ENGLISH !!!

Enjoy Your Days & Love Your Life.... Because...."Life is a journey to be savored."

"The most popular version was recorded by Dean Martin and the The Easy Riders (who consisted of Gilkyson, Dehr, and Miller); another version was recorded by Gale Storm. The Martin version reached #1 on the Billboard chart in 1956. Tim Rice has stated that the Everly Brothers version of this is the most perfect pop song ever. After the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, the song was adapted into the "Honvágy-dal" (The Song of Homesickness), used as an unofficial anthem for refugees scattered around the world. Recorded by Ida Boros, it became a cultural phenomenon and a sign of protest against the communist government. For an impression of Dean Martin, American tenor Mario Lanza sang "Memories Are Made of This" in a sequence of impressions that included other popular singers of the era in his 1958 movie Seven Hills of Rome."


Friday, November 2, 1961 Issue of the Beacon	Friday, November 2, 1961 Issue of the Beacon	Friday, November 2, 1961 Issue of the Beacon	Friday, November 2, 1961 Issue of the Beacon	Friday, November 2, 1961 Issue of the Beacon	Friday, November 2, 1961 Issue of the Beacon
Senior Spotlight - Billy Bryant ('62) and Dee Gee Wilkinson ('62)	Ninth Grade Officers (Class of 1965) - Sponsor Mr. Bill Helms, Secretary Pam Smith, President Joe Mooney, and Honor Council Representative Polly Norris	Band Sweetheart Candidates - Carol Petenbrink ('62) and Suzie Nunnally ('62)	Varsity Flagtwirlers - Juanita Hayes ('62), Irene James ('62), Wanda Thornhill ('62), Paula Sturtevant ('62), Carol Petenbrink ('62), Mary Lou Knowles ('63) Vicki Hankins ('63), Norma Helmick ('63), and Sharon Lamberth ('63)	Mrs. Emily Powell	Mr. Robert Wynne

		Stitch this design with the floss colors of your choice. Design Size: 23w by 15h Stitching Level: Beginner Finished Design Size: For commonly used fabric counts (in inches): 11-count, 2w by 1 1/4h 14-count, 1 5/8w by 1h 18-count, 1 1/4w by 3/4h

		Well, I'll be gone for at least a week, I'm thinking, as of Monday morning. Thank you for all the well wishes! Take Care, Shari
Did you pray today?

		Old American Gas Stations from all around the country Some are abandoned, some are restored and many are still in use.