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_________________________________________ {Straight From the Heart} *Please Stay* 11/17/00 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! I appreciate any feedback or constructive criticism, so feel free to write me (Michael T. Powers) and let me know what you think! Just joined us and want to see all the past stories we have run? Visit our inspirational website at: Straight From the Heart Please Stay By Al Batt Flowers are gifts that continue to bring us happiness and memories long after they have left us. Flowers also attract hummingbirds to our yards. A flower would earn its keep if it did nothing else. There is something about seeing hummingbirds coming to the sugar water feeder I put up each fall. Don't get me wrong-I cherish the goldfinches clinging to the niger seed feeder and the Mourning Doves feeding on the ground under our feeding station, but there is something about the hummingbirds. Maybe it is the distance they migrate, flying over 500 miles across the Gulf of Mexico? This is a remarkable feat by a bird that weighs no more than a quarter. We are getting the last taste of summer. The nights are growing cool and the weather reports are autumn-like. I watch a hummingbird feed on the sweet water. He has declared the feeder to be his territory and spends his day chasing any intruders away. Even with his testy personality, I cannot help but like him. One day, I will awaken and the seasons will have changed and my hummingbird will be gone. My father-in-law and I share a love for hummingbirds. He puts up a number of feeders and rejoices when the birds arrive. My father-in-law is a retired farmer, an ex-Marine (ex- is probably not correct as I have found that once a Marine, always a Marine) who has found himself in St. Mary's Hospital in Rochester, Minnesota with a life-threatening heart problem. I was hosting a cruise on the Pelican Breeze recently, the Pelican Breeze is a wonderful cruise boat that floats regularly on beautiful Albert Lea Lake, when I spotted Mayo 1, the helicopter/ambulance, leaving Albert Lea, Minnesota on its flight to Rochester. I made mention to the boat's passengers of the fine service the helicopter provides, how it gets to Rochester in about 20 minutes and how fortunate we are to have such a thing in the area. I also talked of how I can never see the flying ambulance without experiencing a touch of sadness and a feeling of emptiness in the pit of my stomach, knowing that the life of someone and the lives of his loved ones would be changed dramatically. Little did I know that the patient who was a passenger on that helicopter was my father-in-law. Fall comes too soon. I don't want summer to end. I want to feel the warmth in my bones and the soft breezes on my skin. I want to hear the sounds of summer continue. At this time of year I don't remember the nearly unbearable heat and humidity or the bloodthirsty mosquitoes of summer. I remember the rains, not the heavy ones, but the gentle and polite ones. I watch my hummingbird guarding his food supply and I think of my father-in-law fighting for his life. "Please stay," I say silently to the hummingbird buzzing around the feeder. "Please stay with me a little longer. Don't leave yet. I haven't known you long enough." In my heart, I am saying the very same things to my father-in-law. "Please linger. Allow me to cling to you through fall and into the winter." Summer leaves well before it has worn out its welcome. "Please let me remember the songs of your birds when the snow covers the ground." ©2000 Send Al an email and let him know what you thought of his writing! ___________________________________________________ A note from one of our authors! From: prsalz@vbe.com (RoseMary Salzman, The author of Monday's story: My Gentle Giant.)
What a day I had yesterday!! Wow!! First of all, THANK YOU for publishing my story!!!! My birthday was To say that my story was well received is an understatement! I have I hope you realize how many people are reading your wonderful "Straight I shall continue to write. It really inspires me. Hearing from other Keep your wonderful "Hearts" going. I just love it, My Love to You, RoseMary Salzman ___________________________________________________ REQUESTS AND UPDATES: From: emh67@hotmail.com (Montie Hickey) My family would like to say thank you for all the prayers for my nephew. I Thought For The Day: "We are never defeated unless we give up on God." Verse for the Day: "In all things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us."
"Imaginary friends can be the best." Parent's Thought For The Day "A home's temperature is best maintained by warm hearts, not Coach's Thought For The Day "Besides pride, loyalty, discipline, heart, and mind, confidence is the key to all the locks."
"People who live in glass houses should change clothes in the basement." _
"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!" Let me make you a video from your pictures or home movies!
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Touching Lives - One E-mail at a Time! Author Michael T. Powers - HeartTouchers @ aol.com
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