Beyond Price
It was yesterday I combed her hair
And buttoned up her dress with care;
I tied her sash and laced her shoes;
I kissed each tiny baby bruise.
Each day I counted ten pink toes
And loved her little turned-up nose;
I played with dolls and mended toys;
All childish wants were happy joys.
I held her hand as paths we strolled
And gathered daisies white and gold.
Her brown eyes sparkled with delight
As bedtime stories came at night.
Now years have gone, time has flown.
And into womanhood she's grown.
Today I sit in a rocking chair
As tenderly she combs my hair.
Helps me to dress, ties my shoes,
And reads me all the latest news.
When I thank her, my lovely daughter
Smiles and say, "Bread cast on water."
Now I know love past understanding,
Given free, not demanding;
Yesterday down through today,
Love far surpasses price or pay.
Mamie Ozburn Odum
I'm Free
I looked upon his wrinkled face and kissed his newborn hair.
I breathed the intoxicating smell of new life in the air.
Then Father Time laced up his shoes and he began to run.
Before I knew where I was my little boy turned One.
I tickled toes and kissed those feet and we played Peek-a-Boo.
I swung him high into the air now suddenly he's Two.
I sang to him a lullaby and he sang back to me.
We danced together in the sun and he said "Now I'm Three".
He held my hand so firmly as we went through each new door.
Our lives entwined so tightly by the time my son turned Four.
Today's a new adventure as I walk him up the drive.
We're about to live his first School Day now that he's turned Five.
"Goodbye wee man, see you soon" I feel a tear drop fall.
He waves his little hand at me and doesn't mind at all.
I drive back home again in tears alone by half-past-nine.
The last of four sweet blessings to leave this lap of mine.
No more little giggles and games played through the day.
No more "Oh mommy, please, can 'Barney' come to stay?".
The pain is so intense now yet no one here can see.
It breaks my heart to think that now they say ' I'M FREE! '.
Written for all moms who's 'baby' has left her lap.
With love
Elaine
Found @ Alta's Home Page
If I Could Live It Over
If I had to live my life over again, I'd dare to make more mistakes next time.
I'd relax.
I would limber up.
I would be sillier than I have been this trip.
I would take fewer things seriously.
I would take more chances.
I would take more trips. I would climb more mountains, swim more rivers.
I would eat more ice cream and less beans.
I would perhaps have more actual troubles, but I'd have fewer imaginary ones.
You see, I'm one of those people who live seriously and sanely hour after hour, day after day.
Oh, I've had my moments. And if I had to do it over again, I'd have more of them.
In fact, I'd try to have nothing else, just moments, one after another, instead of living so many years ahead of each day.
I've been one of those persons who never goes anywhere without a thermometer, and hot water bottle, a raincoat and a parachute.
If I had it to do again, I would travel lighter than I have.
If I had to live my life over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall.
I would go to more dances.
I would ride more merry-go-rounds.
I would pick more daisies.
Author Unknown
A Delightful Place
A delightful place
This world will indeed be,
If--when choices must be made,
Integrity is favored over material gain,
Honor over disgrace,
Loyalty over treachery,
Honesty over fraud,
Sincerity over hypocrisy,
Self-sacrifice over selfishness,
Magnanimity over meanness,
Love over hatred,
Forgiveness over retribution,
Courtesy over rudeness,
Right over wrong,
And, ultimately,
Good is chosen over evil.
by Ananchanok Pahnichaputt
I shall pass through this world
but once.
Any good therefore that I can do
or any kindness I can show
to any human being.
Let me do it now.
Let me not defer or neglect it
for I shall not pass this way again.
Author Unknown
I do my thing,
and you do your thing.
I am not in this world
to live up to your
expectations.
And you are not
in this world to
live up to mine.
You are you,
and I am I.
And if by chance
we find each other,
it's beautiful.
Frederick S. Pearls
It Is Not Easy
To apologize,
To begin over,
To admit error,
To be unselfish,
To take advice,
To be charitable,
To be considerate,
To endure success,
To keep on trying,
To forgive and forget,
To keep out of the rut,
To make the most of a little,
To maintain a high standard,
To recognize the silver lining,
To shoulder a deserved blame,
But they are said to be the best.
Author Unknown
Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.
John Wesley
Slice of Life
Be grateful for the kindly friends
That walk along your way;
Be grateful for the skies of blue
That smile from day to day;
Be grateful for the health you own,
The work you find to do,
For round about you there are men
Less fortunate than you.
Be grateful for the growing trees,
The roses soon to bloom,
The tenderness of kindly hearts
That shared your days of gloom;
Be grateful for the morning dew,
The grass beneath your feet,
The soft caresses of your babes
And all their laughter sweet.
Acquire the grateful habit,
Learn to see how blest you are,
How much there is to gladden life,
How little life to mar!
And what if rain shall fall today
And you with grief are sad;
Be grateful that you can recall
The joys that you have had.
Edgar A. Guest
I believe in the spirit of innocence,
the wonder that shapes us and leads us to dream.
I believe that life is a gift to be unwrapped
every day and given freely to those in need.
I believe that even in our darkest hour;
we can take a deep breath and start all over again.
Most of all I believe in the power of love
and that in the end it will heal us all.
Author Unknown
Dream what you want to dream;
go where you want to go;
be what you want to be,
because you have only one life
and one chance
to do all the things
you want to do.
Author Unknown
Look not for beauty,
Or color of skin,
But look for the heart,
That is loyal within,
Though beauty may fade,
And skin grow old,
The heart that is loyal
Will never grow old.
Unknown
as I run away from it all
I find myself
heading smack back into it
disguised
as freedom
Marla Miller
A Hug ...
The Universal Perscription
No moving parts, no batteries.
No monthly payments and no fees;
Inflation proof, non-taxable,
In fact, it's quite relaxable;
It can't be stolen, won't pollute,
One size fits all, do not dilute.
It uses little energy,
But yields results enormously.
Relieves your tension and your stress,
Invigorate your happiness;
Combats depression, makes you beam,
And elevates your self esteem!
Your circulation it corrects
Without unpleasant side effects
It is, I think, the perfect drug:
May I prescribe, my friend... the hug!
And, of course, fully returnable!
Author Unknown
Success
I would rather stumble a thousand times
attempting to reach a goal,
than to sit in a crowd
in my weather-proof shroud,
a shriveled and self-satisfied soul.
I would rather be doing and daring
all of my error-filled days,
than watching, and waiting, and dying,
smug in my perfect ways.
I would rather wonder and blunder,
stumbling blindly ahead,
than for safety's sake
lest I make a mistake,
be sure, be safe, be dead.
Author Unknown
Winners versus Losers
The Winner is always a part of the answer;
The Loser is always a part of the problem.
The Winner always has a program;
The Loser always has an excuse.
The Winner says, "Let me do it for you;"
The Loser says, "That's not my job."
The Winner sees an answer for every problem;
The Loser sees a problem in every answer.
The Winner says, "It may be difficult but it's possible;"
The Loser says, "It may be possible but it's too difficult."
Author Unknown
Success
Success is speaking words of priase,
In cheering other people's ways,
In doing just the best you can,
With every task and every plan;
It's silence when your speech would hurt,
Politeness when your neighbor's curt,
It's deafness when the scandel flows,
And sympathy with other's woes;
It's loyalty when duty calls,
It's courage when disaster falls,
It's patience when the hours are long,
It's found in laughter and in song,
It's in the silent time of prayer,
In happiness and in despair,
In all of life and nothing less,
We find the thing we call success.
Author Unknown
Your Garden
Your mind is like a garden:
Whatever you plant will grow.
Your thoughts are seeds you're planting:
They produce, each after its kind.
And you, just like a gardener,
Can choose which seeds you'll plant.
And by the choice of seeds you sow,
You choose the harvest you will reap.
So don't plant seeds of lack or fear,
Disease, discord, or doubt.
Plant, instead, the seeds you want;
Then things you want will sprout.
This gift of choice is given to all,
And not to just a few.
The harvest, friend, is in your hands:
The crop depends on you.
So take this power which you've been given,
And use it every day,
To gain from life the good you want,
or you have found the way.
by Charles David Heineke
Around the Corner
Around the corner I have a friend
In this great city that has no end,
Yet the days go by and weeks rush on,
And before I know it, a year is gone
And I never see my old friends face,
For life is a swift and terrible race,
She knows I like her just as well
As in the days when I rang her bell,
And she rang mine.
We were younger then,
And now we are busy, tired men.
Tired of playing a foolish game,
Tired of trying to make a name.
"Tomorrow" I say "I will call on Jane"
"Just to show that I'm thinking of her"
But tomorrow comes and tomorrow goes,
And distance between us grows and grows.
Around the corner!-yet miles away,
"Here's a telegram sir-"
"Jane died today."
And that's what we get and deserve in the end.
Around the corner, a vanished friend.
by Henson Towne
Just One
One song can spark a moment,
One flower can wake the dream.
One tree can start a forest,
One bird can herald spring.
One smile begins a friendship,
One hand clasp lifts a soul.
One star can guide a ship at sea,
One word can frame the goal.
One vote can change a nation,
One sunbeam lights a room.
One candle wipes out darkness,
One laugh will conquer gloom.
-Author Unknown
