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Archive through May 20, 2006

The TVClubHouse: General Discussion ARCHIVES: 2006 Mar. ~ 2006 May: Free Expressions: Right Now (ARCHIVES): Archive through May 20, 2006 users admin

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Max
Moderator

08-12-2000

Friday, May 19, 2006 - 12:54 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Max a private message Print Post    
RN, I'm typing my fingers to the bone on a transcript for an upcoming PBS special (apparently). They are interviews with various government officials about national security / 'war on terror' / border patrol and other such issues.

RN, I'm wondering if it's just coincidence that my fingers keep typing Untied States!

Mizinvanccouver
Member

02-22-2003

Friday, May 19, 2006 - 1:20 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Mizinvanccouver a private message Print Post    
RN I'm wishing it was 5pm so I could go home from work. I'm watching the clock tick slowly by. The week has been busy for me both at work and at home and I'm exhausted. I could take a nap under my desk right now.

I'm looking forward to the weekend as Monday is a holiday, Victoria Day. Just 3 hours and 45 minutes to go...sigh

Native_texan
Member

08-24-2004

Friday, May 19, 2006 - 2:14 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Native_texan a private message Print Post    
RN, I found out today that Travis will be presented with Principal's Award at school next week because of his improvement in behavior this past year. His teacher said that she found out that not only did she nominate him but another teacher had also. I'm one proud momma!

I can't wait to tell the ex this evening when I take Travis to him because he tells everyone Travis will never improve until he gets away from the city (ex lives in the country). I would like to tell that since everyone has noticed that Travis' behavior has improved greatly since the divorce that I don't think it has near as much to do with the city as it does with other factors (namely him).

Hermione69
Member

07-24-2002

Friday, May 19, 2006 - 2:18 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Hermione69 a private message Print Post    
Right now I am waiting for TNTitanFan to get here! :-)

Landi
Member

07-29-2002

Friday, May 19, 2006 - 2:18 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Landi a private message Print Post    
right now, i got this in my email. and i thought i would share it with all of my friends.

Carl was a quiet man. He didn't talk much. He would always greet you with a big smile and a firm handshake.

Even after living in our neighborhood for over 50 years, no one could really say they knew him very well.

Before his retirement, he took the bus to work each morning. The lone sight of him walking down the street often worried us.

He had a slight limp from a bullet wound received in WWII.

Watching him, we worried that although he had survived WWII, he may not make it through our changing uptown neighborhood with its ever-increasing random violence, gangs, and drug activity.

When he saw the flyer at our local church asking for volunteers for caring for the gardens behind the minister's residence, he responded in his characteristically unassuming manner. Without fanfare, he just signed up.

He was well into his 87th year when the very thing we had always feared finally happened.

He was just finishing his watering for the day when three gang members approached him. Ignoring their attempt to intimidate him, he simply asked, "Would you like a drink from the hose?"

The tallest and toughest-looking of the three said, "Yeah, sure," with a malevolent little smile.

As Carl offered the hose to him, the other two grabbed Carl's arm, throwing him down. As the hose snaked crazily over the ground, dousing everything in its way, Carl's assailants stole his retirement watch and his wallet, and then fled.

Carl tried to get himself up, but he had been thrown down on his bad leg. He lay there trying to gather himself as the minister came running to help him.

Although the minister had witnessed the attack from his window, he couldn't get there fast enough to stop it.

"Carl, are you okay? Are you hurt?" the minister kept asking as he helped Carl to his feet.

Carl just passed a hand over his brow and sighed, shaking his head.

"Just some punk kids. I hope they'll wise-up someday."

His wet clothes clung to his slight frame as he bent to pick up the hose. He adjusted the nozzle again and started to water.

Confused and a little concerned, the minister asked, "Carl, what are you doing?"

"I've got to finish my watering. It's been very dry lately," came the calm reply.

Satisfying himself that Carl really was all right, the minister could only marvel. Carl was a man from a different time and place.

A few weeks later the three returned. Just as before their threat was unchallenged. Carl again offered them a drink from his hose.

This time they didn't rob him. They wrenched the hose from his hand and drenched him head to foot in the icy water.

When they had finished their humiliation of him, they sauntered off down the street, throwing catcalls and curses, falling over one another laughing at the hilarity of what they had just done.

Carl just watched them. Then he turned toward the warmth giving sun, picked up his hose, and went on with his watering.

The summer was quickly fading into fall Carl was doing some tilling when he was startled by the sudden approach of someone behind him. He stumbled and fell into some evergreen branches.

As he struggled to regain his footing, he turned to see the tall leader of his summer tormentors reaching down for him. He braced himself for the expected attack.

"Don't worry old man, I'm not gonna hurt you this time." The young man spoke softly, still offering the tattooed and scarred hand to Carl. As he helped Carl get up, the man pulled a crumpled bag from his pocket and handed it to Carl.

"What's this?" Carl asked.

"It's your stuff," the man explained. "It's your stuff back. Even the money in your wallet."

"I don't understand," Carl said. "Why would you help me now?"

The man shifted his feet, seeming embarrassed and ill at ease. "I learned something from you," he said. "I ran with that gang and hurt people like you We picked you because you were old and we knew we could do it. But every time we came and did something to you, instead of yelling and fighting back, you tried to give us a drink.You didn't hate us for hating you. You kept showing love against our hate." He stopped for a moment. "I couldn't sleep after we stole your stuff, so here it is back."

He paused for another awkward moment, not knowing what more there was to say. "That bag's my way of saying thanks for straightening me out, I guess." And with that, he walked off down the street.

Carl looked down at the sack in his hands and gingerly opened it. He took out his retirement watch and put it back on his wrist. Opening his wallet, he checked for his wedding photo. He gazed for a moment at the young bride that still smiled back at him from all those years ago.

He died one cold day after Christmas that winter.

Many people attended his funeral in spite of the weather. In particular the minister noticed a tall young man that he didn't know sitting quietly in a distant corner of the church.

The minister spoke of Carl's garden as a lesson in life. In a voice made thick with unshed tears, he said, "Do your best and make your garden as beautiful as you can. We will never forget Carl and his garden."

The following spring another flyer went up. It read:
"Person needed to care for Carl's garden."

The flyer went unnoticed by the busy parishioners until one day when a knock was heard at the minister's office door.

Opening the door, the minister saw a pair of scarred and tattooed hands holding the flyer. "I believe this is my job, if you'll have me," the young man said.

The minister recognized him as the same young man who had returned the stolen watch and wallet to Carl.

He knew that Carl's kindness had turned this man's life around. As the minister handed him the keys to the garden shed, he said, "Yes, go take care of Carl's garden and honor him."

The man went to work and, over the next several years, he tended the flowers and vegetables just as Carl had done.

In that time, he went to college, got married, and became a prominent member of the community. But he never forgot his promise to Carl's memory and kept the garden as beautiful as he thought Carl would have kept it.

One day he approached the new minister and told him that he couldn't care for the garden any longer. He explained with a shy and happy smile, "My wife just had a baby boy last night, and she's bringing him home on Saturday."

"Well, congratulations!" said the minister, as he was handed the garden shed keys. "That's wonderful! What's the baby's name?"

"Carl," he replied.


Darrellh
Member

07-21-2004

Friday, May 19, 2006 - 2:22 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Darrellh a private message Print Post    
RN, happy tears.

Mocha
Member

08-12-2001

Friday, May 19, 2006 - 2:24 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Mocha a private message Print Post    
Rn bloody hell landi you made me cry.

Alwayzmovin
Member

11-06-2003

Friday, May 19, 2006 - 2:40 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Alwayzmovin a private message Print Post    
RN Dang it...made me cry too. Wouldn't be so bad except my DH is on his way home from his "away from me" job during the week 140 miles away. Got all my make-up on and now have to repair the damage. (yeah like that's gonna help this old face)

Mocha
Member

08-12-2001

Friday, May 19, 2006 - 2:42 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Mocha a private message Print Post    
Rn Yay Travis!!

Tater
Member

03-19-2003

Friday, May 19, 2006 - 2:43 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Tater a private message Print Post    
RN Made me cry too. <passes the tissues>

Landi
Member

07-29-2002

Friday, May 19, 2006 - 2:44 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Landi a private message Print Post    
right now, congrats to travis! native, nice to have some validation that you are doing what is right for your son!

Max
Moderator

08-12-2000

Friday, May 19, 2006 - 2:44 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Max a private message Print Post    
RN, Hooray for Travis and proud mama NT! hooray

And RN, that's a nice story, Landi. :-)

Saxywildcat
Member

05-30-2005

Friday, May 19, 2006 - 2:50 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Saxywildcat a private message Print Post    
RN you made me cry too, landi!

Mayajnn
Member

01-27-2006

Friday, May 19, 2006 - 2:55 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Mayajnn a private message Print Post    
RNVery touching

Dogdoc
Member

09-29-2001

Friday, May 19, 2006 - 3:30 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Dogdoc a private message Print Post    
Travis, you do your mother proud. Congratulations to you and your mom. Landi, thank you for sharing the story of Carl. Tater, thanks for the tissue.

Biscottiii
Member

05-30-2004

Friday, May 19, 2006 - 8:46 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Biscottiii a private message Print Post    
rn
Hey Native, Woo Hoo!
Congrats to Travis! Not just ONE teacher nomination, but TWO!

Thanks Landi for the heartwarming story! Nice.

Jrs6494
Member

03-30-2006

Friday, May 19, 2006 - 9:22 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Jrs6494 a private message Print Post    
Everyone needs to watch this video its really funny. http://gorillamask.net/evdance.shtml

Abby7
Member

07-17-2002

Friday, May 19, 2006 - 10:19 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Abby7 a private message Print Post    
dogdoc, thank you so much for being so kind to respond. i know i was in a whiney mood, so sorry about that....so, thanks for giving me some great advice that i really need right now.

Serate
Member

08-21-2001

Friday, May 19, 2006 - 10:49 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Serate a private message Print Post    
Right now we just got back from the baseball game - 1:36am - later than we expected but we spent time in the emergency room because I decided to catch a home run ball by slowing it down with my face.

Dogdoc
Member

09-29-2001

Saturday, May 20, 2006 - 4:23 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Dogdoc a private message Print Post    
Your welcome Abby7

Hukdonreality
Member

09-29-2003

Saturday, May 20, 2006 - 6:08 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Hukdonreality a private message Print Post    
RN, I'm wondering how Serate is feeling. That was crazy of you to stop a baseball with your face. I hope you're o.k.!

Landi
Member

07-29-2002

Saturday, May 20, 2006 - 7:10 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Landi a private message Print Post    
right now, i hope serate kept the ball! and what in the heck were you thinkin?

Hukdonreality
Member

09-29-2003

Saturday, May 20, 2006 - 7:32 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Hukdonreality a private message Print Post    
RN I just remembered that back years ago, a friend of mine had a huge clock fall off of a wall above her table at a nice restaurant. Landed smack on her face and really bruised her up. She not only got free meals after that, she got the reputation as the lady who's face could stop a clock.

Goddessatlaw
Member

07-19-2002

Saturday, May 20, 2006 - 9:08 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Goddessatlaw a private message Print Post    
LOL Hukd. Serate, the words "cower," "duck," and "please don't hit me" should be your friends when playing softball.

Right now I'm commencing my first husband-free day in I dunno how long. Colossus is out at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for pole day with my brother-in-law (the 6'8" one). We spent last night with our 6'6" brother-in-law.

Right now Colossus is getting a taste of what it feels like to be me in the land of the giants. LOL. (PS he wore his boots and a muscle shirt in order to better hold his own at the suite.)

Mocha
Member

08-12-2001

Saturday, May 20, 2006 - 9:14 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Mocha a private message Print Post    
Rn lol Gal. I was just looking at the butt shot the 4 of us took the day after yalls wedding. Good times good times...