FDR

This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself– nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.

Redneck T-- look carefully!!!

Funny Bones

I dialed a number and got the following recording:
"I am not available right now, but
Thank you for caring enough to call.
I'm making some changes in my life.
Please leave a message after the
Beep. If I do not return your call,
You're one of the changes."

My wife and I had words,
But I didn't get to use mine.

Frustration is trying to find your glasses without your glasses.

The irony of life is that, by the time
You're old enough to know your way around
You're not going anywhere.

God made man before woman so as to give him time to think
Of an answer for her first question.

I was always taught to respect my elders,
But it keeps getting harder to find one.

Cocoon

I am a being in the cocoon,
Churning, changing, soul consumed.
Pushing, struggling, mind confused,
A battle between left and right ensues.
Mazes, miracles, black and white,
Give me strength to calm this fight.
Darkness holds to doubtful avail,
I will continue blindly on this trail.
Light seems distant but presently so,
One barefoot step rolls heel to toe.
Glimpses of norm flicker behind my clear eye,
Death is coming knowingly, this is its final cry.
I am a being in the cocoon,
Churning, changing, soul consumed.

Jennifer Dethloff

Shakespeare

A wretched soul, bruised with adversity,
We bid be quiet when we hear it cry;
But were we burdened with like weight of pain,
As much or more we should ourselves complain.

Harry Emerson Fosdick Said It...

God is not a cosmic bellboy for whom we can press a button to get things done.

Hold a picture of yourself long and steadily enough in your mind's eye, and you will be drawn toward it.

The world is moving so fast these days that the man who says it can't be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it.

Don't simply retire from something; have something to retire to.

Rebellion against your handicaps gets you nowhere. Self-pity gets you nowhere. One must have the adventurous daring to accept oneself as a bundle of possibilities and undertake the most interesting game in the world - making the most of one's best.

Your Fish Is Dead

This piece was written on 7/26/07 by Leanne Doyle Duncan.

Bryce got three goldfish for his 7th birthday last month and the first one,
Max, has passed on to "fishy heaven". I was tucking Bryce in last night
and I noticed LOTS of fish food all around the aquarium and he told me
that Ty was trying to feed them. I was finding a good hiding spot for
the food when I saw one of the fish floating. I didn't want to show
Bryce right before bed (we'd already been working on bedtime for an
hour) b/c I knew it would upset him, so I decided to wait until morning.
A little while later, he came running down the stairs with tears
streaming down his face. Plan A= bad idea.

Kelly and I tried to console him as he sobbed, but nothing was helping. He was absolutely devastated. I guess this is really his first memorable experience with
death. Kelly explained the options for disposing of the fish, but Bryce
wasn't having any of it. We finally convinced him to take him into the
bathroom for a "proper burial".

Bryce changed his mind and turned to take him back to his room and dropped him on the floor! It was all Austin and I could do not to burst out giggling at this point. He wanted Max to stay in the aquarium (floating) in case he came back to life.

I laid with him in his bed with the lights off in the room, but on in the
aquarium, discussing what a good fish Max had been as we watched him
float lifelessly around the top. He cried, "Grandma Janyce hasn't even
seen take a picture of the fish before flushing him. So, I watched as Colby
and Ty took turns holding the dead fish and Bryce took pictures.

We went into the bathroom, Bryce wanted me to say a little prayer (glad
that's not on tape) and he dropped the fish in the toilet. Of course,
Colby couldn't stand to be left out, so he reached up and flushed, Bryce
became frantic scooped Max back up into the cup and began crying
again.

Max is back in the cup of water, next to the aquarium in Bryce's
room! Motherhood brings a surprise everyday! I actually cried as my
son mourned the loss of his first goldish!

Leanne