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{SFTH} *The Visit* 7/24/01
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Michael's long awaited book Straight From the Heart: "A Celebration
of Life," is finally here! Close to 200 pages of true short stories filled
with love and laughter await you! Visit our web site to order the
EBook, or to order by credit card! You can also read some sample
stories from the book here!
http://storiesfrommyheart.com/michael_t__powers/
AOL Users Click Here: Straight From the Heart: A Celebration of Life
To order your autographed copy at no extra charge, send a check
or money order for $18 ($14.95 for the book and $3.05 for shipping
and handling) made out to Michael T. Powers, to:
Michael T. Powers
1918 Liberty Lane
Janesville, WI 53545
For two books add $4 for shipping and handling and for three books
add $5 for shipping and handling. If you want four or more
autographed copies of our book you only pay $5 for shipping
and handling. We'll pay the extra shipping costs!
Be sure to let us know who you would like it autographed for and
then allow about two weeks for us to sign it and send it on its
way to you.
___________________________________________________________
Just joined us and want to see all the past stories we've run?
Visit our inspirational website at:
http://www.storiesfrommyheart.com
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THE VISIT
By Al Batt
"Happy birthday. I brought you some of those chocolate-covered cherries that you like."
"Thank you. This is my 93rd year on this old earth. I don't suppose eating a few too many sweets is going to do me much harm now."
"93 years. You've seen some change, haven't you?"
"Seen it? I've made it. I used to work at the Dime Store. I had to make change every day. We didn't have those fancy cash registers to do our thinking for us like folks have today."
"Tell me about the winters you had when you were a child. Were they worse than the winters we have today?"
"Worse? Worse doesn't even come close to describing them. Why, when I was very small, some years the snow would actually be clear up to my chin. We never get snows that come up to my chin now."
"You've grown some."
"I'm supposed to say that. My, Sonny, how you've grown. Bend down a little so I can give your cheeks a good pinch."
"Oh, that's okay. I don't want to mess up my shave."
"Of course, when I was growing up, there wasn't much in the way of snow removal equipment. I grew up around Bath, you know?"
"I know."
"The snow removal plan then was something called June. The snow fell, it stayed on the ground, never moving unless the wind pushed it, it melted, we had water and then we had mud. By the time the mud dried up, the next winter had begun."
"That sounds like a tough life."
"No, those were my good old days. They were the best of times. Things went at a slower pace then. We didn't have to be out driving around in it, so we could appreciate the splendor of freshly fallen snow. Work was hard, but we found the time to marvel at the beauty of a small flower or to wonder at the song of an unseen bird. I've stood out in a dark cowyard with only one boot on, the other having been sucked off by the muck and the mire that was always present there. I've stood there on one foot like a Great Blue Heron, one of those shike-pokes, while I dug around in that ooze with my bare hands trying to find that lost boot. I've done that more than once."
"That doesn't sound like much fun."
"It wasn't much fun while I was doing it, but when I think back upon it, it's a great deal of fun. We all live a lifetime, some a long one, some a short one. Years are the worst way of measuring a life. I've lived a long, full life. I lost my youth along the way, but I never had the time to miss it. Lately, I've discovered that the past is a nice place to visit."
"Wow. They never taught history like this in school."
"Maybe not, but I'm sure your parents and grandparents taught a history class just like the one I do. Were you listening to them?"
"Not as well as I should have been. I wish they were still around. I have a great number of questions I'd like to ask them."
"Yes, I'll bet they had lost a boot or two to a cowyard, too. Well, I feel a nap coming on. Come and see me again, soon."
"You can count on it. I love listening to someone as intelligent as you with all the memories you have at your beck and call."
"Intelligent? I once owned an Edsel. I'm trying to forget that. I've had a pretty good life, but no life is perfect. Let's just say that life didn't spoil me"
"That's where the best stories come from. Thanks for sharing your day with me. I do love hearing your stories."
"No problem. Telling them makes me young again."
Al Batt, ©2001
SnoEowl@aol.com
Send Al an email and let him know what you thought of his story!
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Al lives on a farm in Minnesota with his wife, Gail. Al is a writer, a newspaper columnist, a radio personality, a speaker and a storyteller.
Al Batt
RR1 Box 56A
Hartland, MN 56042
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From the Guestbook!
I am 17 years old and receive your stories. I love to write and people tell me I'm good at it, but what I really want to do is teach children. I wanted to tell you both that I am continually inspired by your writing and the testimonies of your faith. AND I think it's wonderful that you have such a respect for teenagers and are willing to give them a chance to prove themselves to be good people. Thank you for the inspiration you are, as authors and as Christians, and thank you for telling the world that teenagers are not ALL gangsters!!! =)
God bless,
Rachel =)
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Thought For The Day:
"How much pain have cost us the evils which have never happened."
(Thomas Jefferson)
Verse for the Day:
"Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life."
Matthew 6:27
Kid's Thought For The Day:
"Dream."
Parent's Thought For The Day
"The main reason kids eat supper is to get dessert. But the better the dessert is, the less supper they eat." (Bruce Lansky)
Coach's Thought For The Day
"Confidence is the invisible cement that binds a team together."
(Bud Wilkinson)
Deep Thought For The Day:
"The most irritating thing in the world is when a left-handed person puts the bread tie back on the loaf."
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REQUESTS:
Please pray for me that my S.S. disability goes thru. I'm only 45 and they tell me that if you are under the age 50 the chances of getting it are mighty slim. I'm only asking for it until my operations and recovery are complete. I have gone thru all of my retirement savings and will only be able to make a couple more house payments so I am very worried. I had just lost my job of 17 years and have used up my unemployment insurance.
I was injured by the hospital here last July, I went in with pneumonia and came out ten days later with the ring and little finger on both hands totally dead. I had both hands tested and found that my right hand is clinically dead and my left has only 1/3 of the strength it should have.
I have recently had my left arm operated on, they moved the ulnar nerve from below the elbow to above it. This operation has an 18 month recovery time and no guarantee of restoring any feeling.
My right hand will be operated on when I can get my fingers straightened up. They have curled in towards the palm. When they do this operation they will move the ulnar nerve and also cut the back of my hand, remove some of the tendons, and replace them with tendons cut from my right ankle. This operation will also have an 18 month recovery time. Hopefully the tendon replacement will give me back some of the strength in my hand. Thank you for your time and consideration
Thank You,
Kevin
kgreen1@ameritech.net
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_
/_/\/\ MICHAEL T. POWERS
\_\ / THUNDER27@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
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The copyrights to the stories that appear in SFTH 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 pictures or home movies!
Check out the web page for Michael's video production business!
http://members.aol.com/Videoimg/index.html
AOL Users click here: Video Imagery
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Would you like to see your story in Straight From the Heart?
Writer's guidelines can be found on our Web site here:
http://storiesfrommyheart.com/writer_s_guidelines/
AOL Users click here: Writer's Guidelines
_________________________________________________________
Purchase your copy of Michael T. Powers' new book! For a sneak
preview, visit:
http://www.storiesfrommyheart.com/order_our_book_
AOL Users Click Here: Straight From the Heart: A Celebration of Life
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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
_________________________________________________________
Michael's long awaited book Straight From the Heart: "A Celebration of
Life," is finally here! Close to 200 pages of true short stories filled
with love and laughter await you! Visit our web site to order your copy!
You can also read some sample stories from the book here!
http://storiesfrommyheart.com/michael_t__powers/
AOL Users Click Here: Straight From the Heart: A Celebration of Life
To order your autographed copy at no extra charge, send a check or
money order for $18 ($14.95 for the book and $3.05 for shipping and
handling) made out to Michael T. Powers.
To:
Michael T. Powers
1918 Liberty Lane
Janesville, WI 53545
For two books add $4 for shipping and handling and for three books add
$5 for shipping and handling. If you want four or more autographed
copies of our book you only pay $5 for shipping and handling. We'll
pay the extra shipping costs!
Be sure to let us know who you would like it autographed for and
then allow about two weeks for us to sign it and send it on its way
to you.
