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{Straight From the Heart} *Roses From Heaven* 7/14/00
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Welcome to "Straight From the Heart!"
If you enjoy this free daily email service, I encourage you to
forward it on to family and friends. If this has been passed along
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I appreciate any feedback or constructive criticism, so feel free
to write me (Michael T. Powers) and let me know what you think!
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Roses From Heaven
by Becky Holloway
My brother, Mike, was murdered January 11, 1998. The funeral was here
in south Arkansas while his daughter lives in south Louisiana. When
Ericka left to return home, I sent many plants with her from the
service. She was particularly interested in having a gardenia because
they were Mike's favorite.
Mike's little granddaughter Danica was just 3 years old at the time of
his death. With childlike innocence Danica asked many questions
regarding her Papa Mike's death. She was told that he was now in
heaven, which satisfied her. She enjoyed helping her mom tend to the
plants and particularly enjoyed watching the gardenia flourish when
they planted it in their yard.
When the gardenia bloomed that spring, Danica was overjoyed and
insisted that the lovely, fragrant blossoms were roses. She was
pleased to take a bouquet of the gardenias to her nursery school
teacher one morning.
That afternoon the teacher told Ericka that she had to share the
precious thing that Danica had told her about the flowers. When the
teacher thanked Danica and asked her where she had gotten the
beautiful gardenias, Danica said, "They're from my Papa Mike. He
sends me roses from heaven."
Becky Holloway
jdh@ipa.net
Send Becky an email and let her know what you thought of her story!
Footnote from Becky:
Now, I know I'm a bit prejudiced, but that was just about the
sweetest thing I'd ever heard. I have eleven gardenias in my yard
at present and they will forever remind me of my dear brother now.
I like to think that he does send us roses from heaven as they bloom.
A little bit about Becky:
I live in a small town in south Arkansas, where I teach middle
school. I am married to the love of my life, and we'll soon celebrate
our 24th anniversary. Our oldest son is in his 3rd year of college,
middle son is a high school senior, and our only daughter is a
sophomore. They bring us immense joy and keep us very busy following
them to ball games and other activities. We are also active members of
First Baptist Church of Smackover.
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And one short joke to start your weekend off right!
An elephant and a crocodile were swimming in the Amazon,
when the elephant spots a turtle sunning himself on a rock.
The elephant walks over to the turtle, picks him up in his
trunk and hurls him far into the jungle. "What did you do
that for?" asks the crocodile. The elephant answers, "That
turtle was the one that bit me almost fifty years ago." The
crocodile says, "And you remembered him after all these
years? Boy, you sure do have a good memory."
… "Yep," says the elephant. "Turtle recall."
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REQUEST:
From: elektrik01@mindspring.com (kimmer)
Hi Michael...
This email may come as a bit of a surprise, but I want to share what's
been happening in my life...
I am disabled with DDD... Degenerative disc disease... This has been
a 15 year battle, and a situation that can not be 'fixed'... But there
is finally something being done to help somewhat with the pain...
Something other than oral drugs which actually do very little...
I've not been too good at keeping in touch... It has been harder and
harder lately to keep focused on much more than the pain... Kinda
feels like it takes over at times...
It was a 5 hour stay at the hospital today... The surgeon had
emergencies and that put things way behind... There was a whole
waiting room full of patients waiting on this doctor... We were
given the option of rescheduling, but I was bound and determined
I wasn't leaving there without seeing him...
Anyway... I will find out in the morning (or at least sometime
tomorrow) when surgery is... Yep, the surgeon said IT'S A GO! The
only difference is that I'm participating in a study where, instead
of having a temporary catheter inserted in my spine for 2 days, I
will have a spinal tap and the morphine is injected right into the
spinal fluid... I should feel the effects within one hour... The
results are much quicker and much more accurate...
Provided I get relief, I will stay in the hospital and have surgery
the following day... It is then that my wires and computer chip from
a previous surgery will be taken out, and the pump and permanent
catheter will be implanted... The catheter will come around my side
from the pump in my stomach, go into the spinal canal at the base of
my spine and go up to between my shoulder blades...
It could take from a month or so up to a year to get the morphine
level stabilized... So, it looks like our move east will be put on
hold for a bit... Once we get it leveled off, I can move pretty much
anywhere as long as we're near a big city so I can get refills...
That's done with an injection into the stomach where the pump is...
Yep, this is a lifelong thing...
SO... Today was a very productive day... I'm beat... Too much pulling
and pushing from a resident doctor before I saw the surgeon... I hate
that! Plum wears me out... I wanted to kick him... *grin* Well, I did
when he was checking my reflexes...
So many prayers have gone upward for this surgery... So many
specialists have told me this is my last chance for any amount of pain
relief... It will be my 5th back surgery... We've been trying to get
to this point for the past 7 years... And we're here! Praise God!!!
I want to thank you for caring... I know you do...
That's about all for now...
*love and hugs*
Kim
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Thought For The Day:
"At times it is better to keep your mouth shut and let people wonder
if you're a fool, then to open it and remove all doubt."
(James Sinclair)
Verse for the Day:
"Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he
that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.
Proverbs 17:28
Kid's Thought For The Day:
"Wait for your little sister."
Parent's Thought For The Day
"Work can wait while you show a child the rainbow. The rainbow
won't wait while you do the work."
Coach's Thought For The Day
"Don't just coach them, touch their lives!"
Deep Thought For The Day:
"My friend thought a personal trainer was someone
who did the exercises for you."
_
/_/\/\ MICHAEL T. POWERS
\_\ / THUNDER27@aol.com http://members.aol.com/Thunder27/index.html
/_/ \ "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
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 suprised 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 (RKaGe@aol.com) College Station, TX
Let me make you a video from your pictures or home movies!
Check out the web page for Michael's video production business!
Video Imagery
http://members.aol.com/Videoimg/index.html