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{Heart Touchers} *Best Seat in the House* 9/25/01 ______________________________________ 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 us 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 ____________________________________________ 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://www.HeartTouchers.com/michael_t__powers/ _________________________________________ Before we get to today's story we wanted to ask a favor of all you. Would you help us wish a very happy birthday to one of the classy young ladies I coach in basketball? Today is Lindsey's birthday and Kristi and I wanted to make it special for her...and what better way then to have the wonderful readers of Heart Touchers send her birthday greetings from all over the world! If you get the chance could you send her happy birthday wishes by e-mailing Lindsey at: Lidsey22@aol.com Be sure to let her know what part of the world your wishes and greetings are coming from! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! And Lindsey, know that you are fearfully and wonderfully made by a God who loves and cares for you more than you will ever, ever know! May your birthday be a special one! We are so grateful that you and your family are a part of our lives... "I thank my God every time I remember you." (Philippians 1:3) _________________________________________ Today we welcome a new writer to Heart Touchers! Be sure to write to Brad Meltzer and let him know what you thought of his story today and then check out his web site! We have one more story tomorrow night and then we'll be taking the rest of the week off to spend some time together as a family camping up north! From my family to yours, Michael _________________________________________ Best Seat in the House By Brad Meltzer "You can have them," my friend offered. "No, that's OK," I replied. "I'm serious," he said. "They're yours." "We'll be fine," I said. "We already have tickets." "But these are 20 rows behind home plate. They're perfect." "I know, but like I said, we already have tickets." "Did you hear what I said?" my friend asked. "Twenty. Rows. Behind. Home. Plate. It doesn't get better." And so the conversation went the day I decided to take my volunteer Little Brother to his first-ever professional baseball game. It was a perfect night. The peanuts were fresh, the grass was recently mowed, the hot dog buns were soft (not too soft -- not mushy -- just right). Ryan (not his real name) was 10 years old; I was almost 30. Without a doubt, going to the game was a big deal. Why? I wasn't sure - I wasn't even that big a baseball fan myself. But surely every kid should have a chance to go to a real baseball game. To commemorate the event, we even went to the local sporting goods store earlier in the week to try on some baseball mitts. I tossed Ryan one of the smaller-sized gloves, then continued rummaging through the aisle, looking for a baseball. "How's it fit?" I asked. He didn't answer. And by the time I turned around, I understood why. instead of putting the glove on his catching hand, he had put it on his throwing hand. The wrong hand. I couldn't believe it. Ten years old and he'd never, ever worn a baseball glove. So now it's the night of the game. The sun is about to set at Camden Yards, the home of Maryland's beloved Baltimore Orioles, and I'm ready to show Ryan how real baseball is enjoyed. I buy a hot dog, grab a program and even pick up a bag of peanuts. Sure, I want to give him the full experience, but I also don't want to spoil him -- which is why I cringe when Ryan asks me the all-important question: "Where are our seats?" It's a simple question. Where are we sitting? Are we in the outfield? Along the first base line? Back in the upper decks? In many ways, where you sit affects your whole view of the game. Indeed, I thought the same thing myself when my friend offered me his season tickets a few days earlier. It was an incredibly thoughtful offer; Chuck's seats were 20 rows behind home plate. As he said, they don't get much better. But as I prepared for our visit to the ballpark, all I kept thinking was: "If I take Ryan to those incredible seats, won't I be sending him the wrong message? Won't I be spoiling him, potentially ruining all of his subsequent ballpark visits?" Sure, I obviously was overthinking it, but I made my decision: It's better to take him to seats in the bleachers, then slowly -- after a few games -- work our way to the good seats up front. Teach him to appreciate the world. That's the better life lesson. So there we are, walking up to our seats in far left field. In truth, they are bad seats. We can barely see home plate, much less the infield. The only thing we are close to is the scoreboard, and even then, it's on our far left. But as we find our aisle and make our way over to our seats, Ryan studies the view and takes it all in. He looks at the bright-green grass -- the glare of the lights -- and all the people surrounding us. And then, this 10-year-old boy who never has been to a ballpark in his entire life turns to me and says, "These are the best seats in the whole place." I almost fall over right there. A wide smile takes his face. And mine. As I said, it was a perfect night. But somehow, it just got better. Brad Meltzer meltzer@smart.net Write Brad and let him know what you thought of his story! _______________________ Brad Meltzer is the New York Times best-selling author of the legal thrillers The Tenth Justice, Dead Even, and The First Counsel. His new book, The Millionaires, will be published in January. Raised in Brooklyn and Miami, Brad is a graduate of the University of Michigan and Columbia Law School. He's been featured on the Today Show, and in major publications including Time, USA Today, Vanity Fair, Entertainment Weekly, and dozens of newspapers across the country. Brad currently lives in Maryland with his wife (and high school sweetheart), Cori, who's also an attorney. For more info or to contact him, please visit www.bradmeltzer.com _________________________________________ Reader Feedback! Hi Michael, How are you? I just wanted to let your know that since my article about the Scottish Kilt appeared on your site on September 10, I have been inundated with lovely emails! I have kept every one of them and will make a little booklet one day soon to share with my family and friends. I will never forget my first story being "printed" . I will never forget what happenend the day after either. I have chatted with so many special people from the States who have blessed me with their courage and love for each other and their God. I am so happy to be a part of this wonderful family of God. Love from my family in Australia to yours in the USA. Debbie Davidson guydeb@free2air.com.au _________________________________________ Thought For The Day: "The goal in marriage is not to think alike but to think together." Verse for the Day: "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and the united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." --Ephesians 5:31 Kid's Thought For The Day: "Silence can be an answer." Parent's Thought For The Day "Character is taught at home, but not by a purple dinosaur or big yellow bird." Coach's Thought For The Day "The highest reward for a person's toil is not what they get for it, but what they become by it." -- John Ruskin, Art Critic/Writer (1819-1900) Deep Thought For The Day: "The reason lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place is that the same place isn't there the second time." ___________________________________________ _ /_/\/\ 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 Heart Touchers 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! Visit: http://www.hearttouchers.com/video_imagery/ ___________________________________________ Would you like to see your story in Heart Touchers? 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 Heart Touchers 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 __________________________________________ |
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Touching Lives - One E-mail at a Time! Author Michael T. Powers - HeartTouchers @ aol.com
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