|
______________________________________
*The Train Man is Gone* 4/9/02
______________________________________ If you enjoy this free daily email service, I encourage you to spread the word to family and friends that we may bring inspiration into the lives of many! If you are not on the list and this has been passed along to you, join the thousands of HeartTouchers.com readers around the world by sending an e-mail with the word "Subscribe" in the subject line to: HeartTouchers@aol.com Visit our inspirational web site and read all the past stories in our archives at: http://www.HeartTouchers.com ____________________________________________ Can't get enough inspirational stories in your life? Would you like to send a unique gift to your friends and family? Then order a personalized autographed copy of the inspirational book: Straight From the Heart "A Celebration of Life" by Michael T. Powers for only $13.95. And best of all, we'll pay the shipping! Michael is an award winning writer whose stories have appeared in numerous newspapers and magazines around the world and in the following books: Chicken Soup for the Sports Fan's Soul, Chicken Soup for the Grandparent's Soul, Stories For the Extreme Teen's Heart, Stories For the Extreme Teen's Heart 2, Stories for the Teen's Heart 2, Heartwarmers, God Allows U-Turns Volumes 1, 3, and 4, Creating Emotionally Safe Schools, and in the upcoming books: Don't Sweat the Small Stuff Story Collection and The Miracle of Boys. He has signed several contracts for future Chicken Soup and other inspirational books. Still not convinced? You can preview his book by visiting: http://www.HeartTouchers.com/michael_powers AOL Users click here! To order your autographed copy have a check or money order for $13.95 for each book made out to Michael T. Powers, and then send it to: Michael T. Powers 1918 Liberty Lane Janesville, WI 53545 (Please allow about 2 weeks for delivery.) _________________________________________ The Train Man is Gone By Mark Crider WOW! Was all I could say as I stood there marveling at the display of toy trains. I had never seen such a display. Dozens of them running all directions. Over miniature mountains, through tunnels, stopping here and there to play like they filled with water, load miniature bundles of firewood, whistling, tooting, it was amazing. A giant room of nothing but trains running, working. Some looked like they were going to run into one another, but just in time they would duck into a hidden pass to come out on the other side climbing a steep grade towards a forest of trees. I couldn't believe what this must have cost let alone the enormous amount of time to build and put this together. I had been running my fishing lines tied close to the shore of the point in the lake where this man had this huge castle like house. He owned the whole point adjacent to the boy's camp on one side and the girl's camp on the other. He allowed kids from the camps to come over to watch and run the trains. He also saw that kids from several area children homes were picked up by private bus to come spend the day enjoying them from time to time. He had seen me and walked down to the waters' edge to chat with me as I baited and took a few fish off the lines. He asked me if I'd like to have a cold drink or soda and see his toy train collection. I had seen the house for years standing majestically on the point and wondered about who lived there and what they did. This was my chance to find out. The tops of the mountains each had a gold cross, one was of the crucifixion. One of the station houses had a manger and Christmas scene behind it. Oddly there was a building with a sign on it that said, "Orphanage". Scanning the rooms' magnificent furnishings I noticed a beautiful armoire, elegantly hand carved from giant Lebanese cedar with glass doors. Something that puzzled me were the two or three pairs of shirts and pants hanging in it on display. Tattered shirts and pants that were a boys size. Small shoes too, stuffed with paper and cardboard. The holes were obvious. Musing, I asked, "There's a story here, isn't there?" He replied, "Funny you figured it out. How did you do it?" "Well, there are too many things that an amusement hobby would not have displayed here." He went on to tell me about his early years in an orphanage and school. Before he was adopted out to a nice, but very poor family they would go to town from the orphanage. He would see the train displays in the store windows and parents buying their children those as well as other nice toys. He never got anything for the holidays except a piece of fruit. They were always cold in the winter too. After he was adopted they worked hard to just have the necessities of life. In school he always had the poorest of clothes and the most meager fare to eat and little of it. The other children had everything they could want and often teased him about his clothes and food. He looked at me and said, "I dismissed their actions long ago as just being kids. I don't want a needy child in this area to ever go without playing with trains or having fun things to do or a place to do them." These crosses are mementos to my parents who were killed when I was small, my wonderful wife, the kind couple who raised me, and the kind teachers who helped me learn and gave me special treats from time to time when others wouldn't share and Jesus who led me to the successes and rewards beyond my wildest dreams." Here I was, standing, getting the story of this place I had seen for so many years. As I sat reading the headlines, "Successful Businessman Leaves Legacy and Perpetual Foundation To Area Children" I just couldn't hold back the tears. He's joined his wife, parents, friends and children. Mark Crider Mark@cccoating.com Write Mark and let him know your thoughts on his story! __________________________________________ We are still "holed up" here at our bird sanctuary in Northwest Corpus Christi. The spring garden is coming along great and the first flight of migrating hawks/falcons showed up last evening (Easter) to roost in our creek's trees. Hundreds of them went spiraling up in the currents this morning. The black swans and ducks are keeping watchful eyes on them. _________________________________________ Reader Feedback! Please tell Pamela there is one elderly old codger who remembers well and appreciates her memories as well as the original "instructions." It brought a sense of loss to my mind: nowadays, we have these new-fangled gadgets that do everything, and never give us the chance to sit on the rocker to muse while the sun does its thing nor do we have the luxury of sensing achievement, because electricity does MOST of our task. She's to be envied by the young ones, and cheered by all the rest of us. Wwwpres@aol.com What a lovely story, Pamela! Thank you. It brought back some wonderful washday memories. As a matter of fact, I remembered doing laundry with my mother. She had the whitest whites around! Your story brought a stolen warmth to my soul. Bless you. Jaye Lewis, jlewis@smyth.net Sure brought back memories, Pamela. I remember my mom using a wash board and bilin' the white clothes. She didn't live long enough to show me how, but I remember her doing it. I was ten when she died. Thanks for your story. We do need to count our blessings. Nell, seeking Him, nell@stoutsville.net _________________________________________ Thought For The Day: "You never saw a fish on the wall with its mouth shut."-- Sally Berger Verse for the Day: "The wise in heart accepteth commands, but a chattering fool comes to ruin." Proverbs 10:8 Kid's Thought For The Day: "To make a seesaw work, you have to take turns being down." Parent's Thought For The Day "The highlight of my childhood was making my brother laugh so hard that food came out of his nose." --Garrison Keillor Coach's Thought For The Day "An advantage to volleyball is that you have a scoreboard to tell how you have done as a team. The thing is, in life there is no scoreboard, at least not one that you can see." --John Kessel Writer's Thought for the Day: "You don't initiate a story until you know how you're going to end it. You don't start a dinner party conversation -- 'A funny thing happened to me on the way to La Guardia' -- and not know what happened in La Guardia." --John Irving Deep Thought For The Day: "I went to the bookstore and bought a thesaurus for my writer friend. I thought it was very nice, pleasurable, agreeable, copasetic, and decent thing to do." ___________________________________________ _ /_/\/\ MICHAEL T. POWERS \_\ / HeartTouchers@aol.com /_/ \ "For I have been crucified with Christ and I no \_\/\ \ longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I \_\/ live in the body I live for the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Galatians 2:20 ___________________________________________ The copyrights to the stories that appear in HeartTouchers.com are owned by the authors and are used with their permission. We refuse to run stories without the author's permission and contact info listed after the story. We also refuse to publish stories listed as "author unknown." (All of which violates Copyright Law and the rights of the authors.) This e-mail may be forwarded in its entirety, but please do not cut and paste the stories to be used elsewhere unless you have contacted and been given permission by the individual writer. Thank you so much for honoring the rights of those writers who graciously share their stories with us! __________________________________________ Video Imagery --Michael's Video Production Business "I thought of you first after my family sat down to watch the video we gave them. They loved it, to say the least! Within thirty seconds my mom was crying and my dad did too. They said it was the best Christmas gift we could have given them!! You did such a beautiful job! They were so surprised and so touched--they really, really, really loved it. Thanks for helping to make it so special to us all. My mom mentioned how the songs were perfect for the video too! Thanks again!" Kelli-- College Station, TX Let me make you a video from your photos! Check out my video production business by visiting: http://www.hearttouchers.com/video_imagery/ AOL Users click here: Video Imagery ___________________________________________ Would you like to see your story in HeartTouchers.com? Writer's guidelines can be found on our Web site here: http://www.HeartTouchers.com/guidelines/ AOL Users click here: Writer's Guidelines ___________________________________________ SUBSCRIBE: "I need a daily source of inspiration and encouragement in my life!" To become a HeartTouchers.com Member send an e-mail with "Subscribe" in the subject line to: HeartTouchers@AOL.COM Then get ready to laugh, cry, and be deeply touched by some of the best stories on the Internet! __________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: All you have to do is send an e-mail with the word "Unsubscribe" in the subject line to: HeartTouchers@aol.com Give it a day or two to be processed... __________________________________________ Do you feel as if life has no meaning for you? http://www.greatcom.org/english/four.htm AOL Users click here: The Four Spiritual Laws __________________________________________ |
 |
|
Touching Lives - One E-mail at a Time! Author Michael T. Powers - HeartTouchers @ aol.com
|