A good reminder: “Take time to appreciate what you have now.” –Dont miss reading this one

On the last day before Christmas, I hurried to go to the supermarket to buy the
remaining of the gift I didn’t manage to buy earlier.

When I saw all the people there, I started to complain tomyself,”It is going to take forever here and I still have so many other places to go.
Christmas really is getting more and more annoying every year.How I wish I could just lie down, go to sleep and only wake up after it…”

Nonetheless, I made my way to the toy section, and there I started to curse the prices, wondering if after all kids really pla ywith such expensive toys.

While looking in the toy section, I noticed a small boy of about 5 years old, pressing a doll against his chest. He kept on touching the hair of the doll and looked so sad. I wondered who was this doll for. Then the little boy turned to the old woman next to him, “Granny, are you sure I don’t have enough money?”

The old lady replied, “You know that you don’t have enough money to buy this doll, my dear.”

Then she asked him to stay here for 5 minutes while she went to look around. She left quickly. The little boy was still holding the doll in his hand.

Finally, I started to walk toward him and I asked him who did he want to give this doll to.
“It is the doll that my sister loved most and wanted so much for this Christmas. She was so sure that Santa Claus would bring it to her.”

I replied to him that may be Santa Claus will bring it to her, after all, and not to worry. But he replied to me sadly.

“No, Santa Claus can not bring it to her where she is now. I have to give the doll to my mother so that she can give it to her when she goes there.”

His eyes were so sad while saying this.

“My sister has gone to be with God. Daddy says that Mummy will also go to see God very soon, so I thought that she could bring the doll with her to give it to my sister.”

My heart nearly stopped. The little boy looked up at me and said, “I told daddy to tell mummy not to go yet. I asked him to wait until I come back from the supermarket.”

Then he showed me a very nice photo of him where he was laughing. He then told me, “I also want mummy to take this photo with her so that she will not forget me.”

I love my mummy and I wish she doesn’t have to leave me but daddy says that she has to go to be with my little sister.”

Then he looked again at the doll with sad eyes, very quietly.I quickly reached
for my wallet and took a few notes and said to the boy, “What if we checked
again, just in case if you have enough money?”

“Ok,” he said. “I hope that I have enough.”

I added some of my money to his without him seeing and we started to count it.
There was enough for the doll, and even some spare money.

The little boy said, “Thank you God for giving me enough money.”

Then he looked at me and added,
“I asked yesterday before I slept for God to
make sure I have enough money to buy this doll so that mummy can give it to my sister. He heard me.”
“I also wanted to have enough money to buy a white rose for my mummy, but I didn’t dare to ask God too much. But He gave me enough to buy the doll and the white rose.”

“You know, my mummy loves white rose.”

A few minutes later, the old lady came again and I left with my trolley. I
finished my shopping in a totally
different state from when I started. I couldn’t get the little boy out of my
mind.

Then I remembered a local newspaper article 2 days ago, which mentioned of a drunk man in a truck who hit a car where there was one young lady and a little girl. The little girl died right away, and the mother was left in a critical state. The family had to decide whether to pull the plug on the life-assisting machine, because the young lady would not be able to get out of the coma.

Was this the family of the little boy?

Two days after this encounter with the little boy, I read in the newspaper that the young lady had passed away.I couldn’t stop myself and went to buy a bunch of white roses and I went to the mortuary where the body of the young woman was exposed for people to see and make last wish before burial.

She was there, in her coffin, holding a beautiful white rosein her hand with the photo of the little boy and the doll placed over her chest. I left the place crying, feeling that my life had been changed forever. The love that this little boy had for his mother and his sister is still, to that day, hard to imagine. And in a fraction of a second, a drunk man had taken all this away from him.

They heal hurts and wounds
and dry many tears
They uplift you in sorrow
bringing good cheer
They brighten a home
provide freshness to a room
There’s magic in flowers
wherever they bloom

Every color has a meaning
in every event or emotion
Best medicine you’ll find
it’s like magic potion

I’m sending you a bundle
to brighten your day
Hope it brings healing
plenty of joy your way

Been searching for my soul mate
For a heart akin to mine
Been aiming for perfection
Always looking for a sign

I need a little romance
For someone to be sweet
I’m begging for a guy
Who can sweep me off my feet

I was told I wouldn’t find him
I was chasing a dream
Wondering aimlessly
After a rainbow beam

But guess what? I’ve found him!
Someone just like me
It feels like perfection
This is how it’s meant to be

Fate crossed our paths
When I was broken
And when our eyes met
Three words were spoken

Now there’s no looking back
Coz he blows me away
He has stolen my heart
So I’m with him to stay

When your touch is gone
When your kisses stop
Your hand lets go
And the “love you’s” fade
The phone stops ringing
And my inbox is empty
It meens one thing
Yesterday was the worst
Out of all the fights we had
Yesterday made an end
A yell
And a slam
And it over
You dumped me
Because of me
I sit on my bed
Watching the phone
Waiting for the ring
To tell me that it was all a joke
But hour after hour
And still nothing
The tears roll down
And my heart breaks.

Love is like a kingdom,
where only the heart rules.
Love is like the whole world,
that only God rules.What’s really love, I ask.
It can be big and strong
and at the same time
it can be weak and short.

They say is wonderful,
they say is cruel.
There could be happiness,
but loneliness too.

How about love,
when you can trust
and how about hate,
when you cannot.

It is really a mess
of feelings and thoughts.
When you really guess,
that someone could love.

But keep this in mind,
there’s only one true chance.
So make up your mind,
and take the chance.

Before is too late
and you didn’t take,
the LOVE you won’t forget
and you will regret

It’s all about the walk, the way you swing your hips, the bright color of your lips, so hypnotizing. Every time I acknowledge you, I’m so tempted to look down. But I know in my mind that it’s a sign of disrespect. My mind says “no” but my body keeps on saying “yes”.Other women have the assets but it’s all fake to me, a figment of a fool’s imagination. Your sophisticated, intelligent personality constructed of lust and passion and seduction tells me different. A punch line that never offends me. Let’s take a second to talk about those eyes, like the stare of a panther your glance shows the animal inside you. Then theirs the lips, perky, a little shiny with your lip accessories and they fit perfectly with mine. If I were to place a title on you, bells would ring from heaven. All I need is your permission to make you mine. Is it more or less attention that you need? As you are surrounded by many men, trying to get to know you. I’m willing to give my body, my heart, and all I have. The words I whisper as we make love show this love is true. No more arguments, no drama, no late night confrontations. I’m your man and love doesn’t come easy, to say it I must mean it. And here I stand watching you in the distance, getting ahead of myself when I don’t even know your name. Wishing I had the courage to approach you.

“When I was six years old I met him in the playground and he came up to me with a daisy, just the one, and knelt on both knees and asked me to marry him. So I pushed him over then ran away. Two days later he came over and asked if he could play cops and robbers with me and from that day on we played everyday.

At 11 on my first day of Secondary school I was so nervous but at lunch time he came to find me, and we sat down and ate lunch together. We did this everyday for an entire year. You were the first person I told about everything, about my crushes, about my lessons and about all the people I hated, and when I was 13 and thought I was the only one who had never been kissed, you offered to show me how, and by the tree in your backgarden we shared our first kiss.

At 15 we went to our first proper house party, and I got drunk. Even though I made a fool of myself you were there to help me stand strong. You didnt judge and you didnt make fun.

Over the next year we began to seperate, made different friends. I got my first serious boyfriend and you went through quite a few girlfriends. And then it got to May and that meant the prom. Everything had been arranged, I’d been getting my outfit for months and then the day before I found out my boyfriend had cheated on me. The first person I turned to was you. You turned up at my door with a bouquet of roses and a vintage 1950’s car.

I laughed that night
I cried that night

We had three glorious yars together, when everyday I would smile. Even on the last when your mother stood up, in the church infornt of your coffin and began reading from your diary:

“I saw you when I was six stood by the bench in a blue checked dress and daisy shoes and I needed to give an other daisy just because…. Becuase i loved you from that day on”

His wedding vows written the day after prom, that I will never get to hear.”

When it comes to marriage. Some people are made for it and some just are not. There is such a thing as being happily single.

My child, I heard when you called my name
I was there through the thunder, wind, and rain
When you lost all hope I made sure you held on
I was the one who held your head high
I kept your weak body strong
I told death you would survive the night
I told death that I was sparing your life
When the devil asked could he sift you like wheat
My child I told him he could for I knew you were built strongly
Because you were made in the image of me
As the storm clouds brewed and mayhem broke out
I heard every voice that cried out
You may have wondered what is your sin
My children worry no more because the blessings will begin
Hold my hand, Stand by my side
For whom much is given, much is required
I could no longer watch my children suffer through their plight
Poverty, drugs, disease, famine, and sin had become a way of life
You called out my name many times and wondered did I hear your cry
I heard it all but the time wasn’t right
Disaster is not my way to bring you to the light
Destruction came and I let it be
I was there my child just have faith in me
A new day is dawning, blessings will take flight
Your soul will be healed and you will rest through the night
Grace and mercy will protect your soul
Your mind will be renewed
Your body will be young
Your mind sharp
For you all are my daughters and sons
Rejoice for those who went home do not morn
For their battle was fought and won
When the memories come to haunt you in the night
Speak my name and you will be all right because
I am here my child, I never left your side …

Once upon a time, there was once a guy who was very much in love with this girl. This romantic guy folded 1,000 pieces of papercranes as a gift to his girl. Although, at that time he was just a small executive in his company, his future doesn’t seemed too bright, they were very happy together. Until one day, his girl told him she was going to Paris and will never come back. She also told him that she cannot visualise any future for the both of them, so let’s go their own ways there and then… heartbroken, the guy agreed.

When he regained his confidence, he worked hard day and night, slogging his body and mind just to make something out of himself. Finally with all these hardwork and with the help of friends, this guy had set up his own company…

“You never fail until you stop trying.” he always told himself. “I must make it in life!”
One rainy day, while this guy was driving, he saw an elderly couple sharing an umbrella in the rain walking to some destination. Even with the umbrella, they were still drenched. It didn’t take him long to realise those were his ex-girlfriend’s parents. With a heart in getting back at them, he drove slowly beside the couple, wanting them to spot him in his luxury sedan. He wanted them to know that he wasn’t the same anymore, he had his own company, car, condo, etc. He had made it in life!

Before the guy can realise, the couple was walking towards a cemetary,and he got out of his car and followed them…and he saw his ex-girlfriend, a photograph of her smiling sweetly as ever at him from her tombstone… and he saw his precious papercranes in a bottle placed beside her tomb. Her parents saw him. He walked over and asked them why this had happened. They explained, she did not leave for France at all. She was stricken ill with cancer. In her heart, she had believed that he will make it someday, but she did not want her illness to be his obstacle … therefore she had chosen to leave him.

She had wanted her parents to put his papercranes beside her, because, if the day comes when fate brings him to her again he can take some of those back with him. The guy just wept …the worst way to miss someone is to be sitting right beside them but knowing you can’t have them and will never see them again.
The End.”

A tragic story that perhaps happens only in the movies. At the end of the day, money is money is money but love is divine. In our quest for our material wealth, take time to make time for our loved ones. There will be a time when we have only memories to cling to.
Take this weekend to show our “love” to all that are close to us.

I know that you love someone more than me, saying to me you cant love me, others say that it’s not true that I love you but they don’t know the true feeling I found in you.

You know that I’m shy just cant go near to you and take your attention it’s not that I hate you it’s because I love you.

Babe you know that you mean the world to me.
But somehow somewhere we drifted away.
I’m sorry is all i can say now.
You might not believe me when i say i still love you so.But theres just a part of me that has moved on.
I wish i could take back the pain i have caused you.
You will always be my one and only true love

This is a personal account of a ghost story that occured over 10 years ago.
This “true experince” firml supported my theory that our departed loved ones can convey messages through dreams.

Back in 1989, being a fresh graduate Psychology graduate, I landed a job in
the personnel department in one of the goverment offices in Quezon City. A male co-worker, Jun, was 11 years older than me. He became one of my friends while working there. Jun was king, loving, and romantic. He was the breadwinner of his family. His parents ang relatives liked me a lot. Being single and unattached, he courted me in 1990. I accepted his marraige proposal during the latter part of that year.

My parents did not approve of our relationship and when the first quarter of 1991 came, my parents made me quit my job. My dad, being a military man, even threatened Jun to Jun to stay away from me. To make our long story short, I left my job. I lost track of Jun I bussied myself with the family business. Basically, I went on with my life and tried to forget about him.

On the morning of June 2, 1994 I recieved a telegram from his aunt, saying that Jun had died the day before June1, 1994. Shocked I crumpled the short note and hurriedly phoned his aunt for confirmation. She told me that when we parted, Jun resigned from his job and drunk heavily each day. He naglected his death as well as his body. Pneumonia had caused his sudden death. “You know Jun. Everyday and up to his remaining hours, all her wanted was to see you. During his final moments, while suffering from delirium, he even told us that he still loves you very much,” Jun’s aunt said.

Sadly, my parents wouldn’t allow me to go to his wake. I mourned quietly inside my room. There even came a point where I convinced myself that he wasn’t dead.

On January 1995, just before my birthday, Jun visited me in a dream. I dreamed that I was inside a hospital room. I was wearing a hospital gown and I was sitting at the foot of my bed. Jun suddenly appeared before me, clothed in bright lights. We communicated mentally. I told him it wasn’t true that he was gone. He replied that I must accept the fact that he was already dead but it didn’t mean that he as leaving me. “I will always be beside you, gaurding you,” he said

I cried saying, “I’m sorry I didn’t have the guts to fight for our relationship.”

He comforted me and soothed me by shrouding me with his bright light. The bliss I felt was interrupted by voice calling hi name “It’s time for me to go,” he told me. “But what about me?” I asked, tears in my eyes. ” I will be here for you always,” he replied,”and I will be waiting for you there. And don’t ever forget that love you very much.”

After saying this, he vanished before my eyes. I woke up crying. After this accident, I finished began to accept his death. And whenever I’m depressed I feel his presence beside me I know somehow out there he’s still waiting patienly for me.

One fine day, an old couple around the age of 70, walks into a lawyer’s office.
Apparently, they are there to file a divorce.

Lawyer was very puzzled, after having a chat with them, he got their story….
This couple had been quarreling all their 40 over yrs of marriage nothing ever seems to go right.

They hang on because of their children, afraid that it might affect their up-bringing. Now, all their children have already grown up, have their own family, there’s nothing else the old couple have to worry about, all they wanted is to lead their own life free from all these years of unhappiness from their marriage, so both agree on a divorce….

Lawyer was having a hard time trying to get the papers done, because he felt that after 40 yrs of marriage at the age of 70, he couldnt understand why the old couple would still want a divorce..

While they were signing the papers, the wife told the husband..
“I really love u, but i really cant carry on anymore, I’m sorry..”
“Its o.k, i understand..” said the husband. Lookin at this, the lawyer suggested a dinner together, just 3 of them,wife thought, why not, since they are still gonna be friends..

At the dining table, there was a silence of awkardness.
The first dish was roasted chicken, immediately, the old man took the drumstick for the old lady..”take this, its your favourite..”

Looking at this, the lawyer thought maybe theres still a chance, but the wife was frowning when she answer..”
This is always the problem, you always think so highly of yourself, never thought about how I feel, dont you know that i hate drumsticks?”

Little did she know that, over the years, the husband have been trying all ways to please her, little did she know that drumsticks was the husband’s favourite. Little did he know that she never thought he understand her at all, little did he know that she hates drummsticks even though all he wants is the best for her.

That night, both of them couldnt sleep, toss and turn, toss and turn…after hours, the old man couldnt take it anymore, he knows that he still loves her, and he cant carry on life without her, he wants her back, he wants to tell her, he is sorry, he wanted to tell her “i love you”…

He picks up the phone, starting dialing her number….ringing never stops..he never stop dialing….

On the other side, she was sad, she couldn’t understand how come after all these years, he still doesnt understand her at all, she loves him a lot, but she just cant take it anymore….phone’s ringing, she refuses to answer knowing that its him…”whats the point of talking now that its over…i have ask for it and now i wanna keep it this way, if not i will lose face..”she thought…still ringing…she have decided to pull out the cord…

Little did she remember, he have heart problems…

The next day, she received news that he had passed away…she rushed down to his apartment, saw his body, lying on the couch still holding on to the phone…he had a heart attack when he was still trying to get through her phone line….

As sad as she could be…she will have to clear his belongings…when she was looking thru the drawers, she saw this insurance policy, dated from the day they got married, with the beneficiary being her… And together in those file, there was this note…

“To my dearest wife, by the time you’re reading this, I’m sure I’m no longer around, I bought this policy for you, though the amount is only $100k, I hope it will be able to help me continue my promise that i have made when we got married, I might not be around anymore, I want this amount of money to continue taking care of you, just like the way I will if I could have live longer. I want you to know Iwill always be around, by your side… I love you”

Tears flowed like river……

“When you love someone, let them know… You never know what will happen the next minute…. Learn to build a life together.. Learn to love each other. For who they are.. not what they are…”

Sophie’s face faded into the gray winter light of the sitting room. She dozed in the armchair that Joe had bought for her on their fortieth anniversary. The room was warm and quiet. Outside it was snowing lightly.

At a quarter past one the mailman turned the corner onto Allen Street. He was behind on his route, not because of the snow, but because it was Valentine’s Day and there was more mail than usual. He passed Sophie’s house without looking up. Twenty minutes later he climbed back into his truck and drove off.

Sophie stirred when she heard the mail truck pull away, then took off her glasses and wipe her mouth and eyes with the handkerchief she always carried in her sleeve. She pushed herself up using the arm of the chair for support, straightened slowly and smoothed the lap of her dark green housedress.

Her slippers made a soft, shuffling sound on the bare floor as she walked to the kitchen. She stopped at the sink to wah the two dishes she had left on the counter after lunch. Then she filled a plastic cup halfway with water and took her pills. It was one forty-five.

There was a rocker in the sitting room by the front window. Sophie eased herself into it. In a half-hour the children would be passing by on their way home from school. Sophie waited, rocking and watching the snow.

The boys came first, as always, runnng and calling out things Sophie could not hear. Today they were making snowball as they went, throwing them at one another. One snowball missed and smackd hard into Sophie’s window. She jerked backward, and the rocker slipped off the edge of her oval rag rug.

The girl dilly-dallied after the boys, in twos and threes, cupping their mittened hands over their mouths and giggling. Sophie wonder if they were telling each other about the valentines they had received at school. One pretty girl with long brown hair stopped and pointed to her face behind the drapes, suddenly self-consious. When she looked out again, the boys and girls were gone. It was cold by the window, but she stayed there watching the snow conver the children’s footprints

A florist’s truck turned onto Allen Street. Sophie followed it with her eyes. It was moving slowly. Twice it stopped and started again. Then the driver pulled up in front of Mrs. Mason’s house next door and parked.Who would be sending Mrs. Mason flowers? Sophie wondered. Her daughter in Wisconsin? Or her brother? No, her brother was very ill. It was probably her daughter. How nice of her.

Flowers made Sophie think of Joe and, for a moment, she let the aching memory fill her. Tomorrow was the fifteenth. Eight months since his death.

The flower mans was knocking at Mrs. Mason’s front door. He carried a long white and green box and a clipboard. No one seemed to be answering. Of course! It was Friday - Mrs. Mason quilted at the church on Friday afternoons. the delivery man looked around, then started toward Sophie’s house.

Sophie shoved herself out of the rocker and stood close to the drapes. The man knocked. Her hands trembled as she straightened her hair. She reached her front hall on the third knock.

“Yes?” she said, peering around a slightly opened door. “Good afternoon, ma’am,” the man said loudly. “Would you take a delivery for your neighbor?”

“Yes,” Sophie answered, pulling the door wide open. “Where would you like me to put them?” the man asked politely as he strode in.

“In the kitchen, please. On the table.” The man looked big to Sophie. She could hardly see his face between his green cap and full beard. Sophie was glad he left quickly, and she locked the door after him.

The box was as long as the kitchen table. Sophie drew near to it and bent over to read the lettering: “NATALIE’S Flowers for Every Occasion.” The rich smell of roses engulfed her. She closed her eyes and took slower breaths, imagining yellow roses. Joe had always chosen yellow. “To my sunshine,” he would say, presenting the extravagant bouquet. He would laugh delightedly, kiss her on the forehead, then take her hands in his and sing to her “You Are My Sunshine.”

It’s was five o’clock when Mrs. Mason knocked at Sophie’s front door. Sophie was still at the kitchen table. The flower box was now open though, and she held the roses on her lap, swaying slightly and stroking the delicate yellow petals. Mrs. Mason knocked again, but Sophie did not hear her, and after several minutes the neighbour left.

Sophie rose a little while later, laying the flowers on the kitchen table. Her cheeks were flushed. She dragged a stepstool across the kitchen floor and lifted a white porcelain vase from the top corner cabinet. Using a drinking glass, she filled the vase with water, then tenderly arranged the roses and greens, and carried them into the sitting room.

She was smiling as she reached the middle of the room. She turned slightly and began to dip and twirl in small slow circles. She stepped lightly, gracefully, around the sitting room, into the kitchen, down the hall, back again. She danced till her knees grew weak, and then she dropped into the armchair and slept.

At a quarter past six, Sophie awoke with a start. Someone was knocking on the back door this time. It was Mrs. Mason.

“Hello, Sophie,” Mrs. Mason said. “How are you? I knocked at five and was a little worried when you didn’t come. Were you napping?” She chattered as she wiped her snowy boots on the welcome mat and stepped inside. “I just hate snow, don’t you? The radio says we might have six inches by midnight, but you can never trust them, you know. Do you remember last winter when they predicted four inches, and we hand twenty-one? Twenty-one! And they said we’d have a mild winter this year. Ha! I don’t think it’s been over zero in weeks. Do you know my oil bill was $263 last month? For my little house!”

Sophie was only half-listening. She had remembered the roses suddenly and was turning hot with shame. The empty flower box was behind her on the kitchen table. What would she say to Mrs. Mason?

“I don’t know how much longer I can keep paying the bills. If only Alfred, God bless him, had been as careful with money as your Joseph. Joseph! Oh, good heavens! I almost forgot about the roses.”
Sophie’s cheeks burned. She began to stammer an apology, stepping aside to reveal the empty box.

“Oh, good,” Mrs. Mason interrupted. “You put the roses in water. Then you saw the card. I hope it didn’t startle your to see Joseph’s handwriting. Joseph had asked me to bring you the roses the first year, so I could explain for him. He didn’t want to alarm you. His ‘Rose Trust,’ I think he called it. He arranged it with the florist last Apirl. Such a good man, your Joseph…”

But Sophie had stopped listening. Her heart was pounding as she picked up the small white envelope she had missed earlier. It had been lying beside the flower box all this time. With trembling hands, she removed the card.

“To my sunshine,” it said. “I love you with all my heart. Try to be happy when you think of me. Love, Joe.”