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{Straight From the Heart} *I Was Impressed* 7/5/00
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I Was Impressed, Very Impressed!
By: Terri McPherson
I am wary when I drive past a nearby high school. I live
in the country, on a road where the speed limit is 80 km.
There have been numerous occasions when cars have
pulled out of the high school parking lot in front of me
and I've barely had time to slam on the brakes to avoid
hitting them.
Today it happened again. But this time, instead of
getting the usual reaction from the offending driver -- a
quizzical stare from their rearview mirror, wondering why
the strange lady behind them is blowing her horn -- the
outcome was quite different.
I had my eye on a van in the high school driveway. When I
figured I was close enough that the driver would never
think of pulling out in front of me, the driver did just that.
Luckily, there was no oncoming traffic and I was able to
swing out and go around the van instead of hitting it.
With a pounding heart and a suddenly dry mouth, I honked
my horn on the way by!
I wouldn't have liked it, but I wouldn't have been surprised
if the driver and his passenger had flipped me the finger as
I buzzed on by them. I wouldn't have liked it, but I wouldn't
been surprised if they'd caught up to me, rode my back
bumper and flew right on by me, honking a retaliatory horn
in return. All of these things have happened in the past.
None of them happened this time.
When I reached my destination -- a local convenience store
where I intended to mail a letter -- the van drove in to the
parking lot and pulled up beside me. As I stepped out of my
vehicle, the passenger in the van rolled down his window. I
noticed both occupants of the van were young men,
seventeen, eighteen at most.
"Excuse me 'mam," the driver said, "I want to apologize for
pulling out in front of you like that."
I was taken back by his candor and the sincerity of the
expression on his face.
I asked if he pulled in to the parking lot for the sole purpose
of apologizing. He said he did, and went on to explain that
the van was his very first vehicle. His parents had dropped it
off at school for him as a surprise. The young man in the
passenger seat spoke up and said he'd urged his friend to
"go for it" when he was deciding whether or not to pull out on
to the road in front of me. The driver spoke up once again
and said he thought the van had more 'guts' to it when he hit
the gas. Looking contrite and embarrassed, he admitted it
was a stupid thing to do and apologized once more. They both
apologized.
I was so impressed with these two young men that I stuck my
arm through the passenger window and shook both their
hands. They had the integrity to know they were in the wrong
and the courage to go out of their way to admit it and make
amends.
Oh! I forgot to mention that the majority of people who pull out
on to that busy road at a snail's pace and endanger lives, are
not students. The bad behavior I mentioned earlier was
displayed by adults.
Yes, I was impressed by those two young men today. Very,
very impressed.
Living in love and loving life,
© Terri McPherson
tmcphers@mnsi.net
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Send Terri and email and let her know what you thought of her story!
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Terri lives in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. She has two wonderful children, a
five-year-old grandangel and a terrific husband. She works as a Writer / Web
Designer / Production Assistant for a local production company and teaches
advanced clogging classes for the Border City Cloggers. Her writing has
appeared in numerous online publications.
Check out her website!
Weaving Small Wisdoms Through The Fabric Of Life
WiseHearts
http://www.mnsi.net/~tmcphers/index.htm
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REQUESTS:
From Beals7ofus@aol.com (Donna Beals)
Hi,
Our little buddy isn't doing so well........Zachary is listed at a
Status 2B for a liver transplant but for now he is on hold because he
is very sick. Jessica got a call on Sunday, July 2nd at 2:00am that
things weren't so hot. Something is going on with his intestines. They
are very swollen and the Dr.'s suspect an infection although all
cultures are coming back negative. It may just be that his intestines
are swollen from the kidneys not functioning adequetly lots of
uncertainty. His entire body is very swollen again mostly the upper
body, his head is very large. I just got back from seeing Zachary
(Tuesday, July 4th 2:15pm) he is not any worse but not any better
either....they think that his intestine just may be very, very fluid
filled he still may require surgery to prevent a hole or complete
rupture if they see any infection.........his kidneys are not functing
very well at this point in time his oxygen saturation keeps dropping
very low.......things do not look good right now thank God there is
still more they can do but he is not so doing so great...........he
is way to sick to have a liver transplant right now so we are praying
that he responds to treatment and gets better......prayers to you and
yours......God Bless~
donna
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Thought For The Day:
"A day hemmed in prayer is less likely to unravel."
Verse for the Day:
"...pray about everything; tell God your needs and don't forget to
thank him for his answers. If you do this you will experience God's
peace...His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and
at rest."
Phillipians 4: 6,7
Kid's Thought For The Day:
"Crying gets you more attention, but not more friends."
Parent's Thought For The Day
"It's amazing. One day you look at your phone bill and realize they're
teenagers."
(Milton Berle)
Coach's Thought For The Day
Losers live in classic style in the never land called "someday I'll."
Winners live each day as if their last, not in the future, not in the
past and someday...becomes NOW!
(Dennis Waitley)
Deep Thought For The Day:
" Voodoo - What you find under you pet, Voo."
_
/_/\/\ 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!
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Video Imagery
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