Good Morning:  It's Saturday April 14, 2001!
BIRTHDAYS:  Arnold Toynbee, 1889; Sir John Gielgud, 1904; Rod Steiger, 1925; Bradford Dillman, 1930; Tony Perkins, 1932; Loretta Lynn, 1935; Julie Christie, 1940; Pete Rose, 1941.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY:
On this date in 1536 King Henry VIII gave his consent to an Act of Parliament that officially established the union between the nations of Wales and England.  Wales became officially a part of England.
On this date in 1865 President Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater.
On this date in 1890 the Pan-American Union was founded.
On this date in 1910 President William Howard Taft threw out the first ball to start the major league baseball season.
On this date in 1912 the passenger liner S.S. Titanic hit a North Atlantic iceberg.  It would sink a few hours later, and only 1,523 of the 2,200 on board would survive.
MEANINGLESS FACTS:  Alfred Blozis set the world's record for the hand grenade toss back in 1944 when he lobbed the old pineapple 284 1/2 feet... There is a tribe of athletes in Burma called the Intha that row their longboats with their legs... A Grecian urn is the award presented to "Sports Illustrated" magazine's sportsman of the year.
TRIVIA:  What future president once played 14 games as a minor league outfielder in Junction City, Kansas under an assumed name and piqued the interest of several major league scouts?
     Perhaps his most famous quote -- this one from Dwight D. Eisenhower:  "What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight -- it's the size of the fight in the dog."  Hang in there, little guy...
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Granddad
A Poem by H.L. Gradowith in memory of Leland Gray, his grandfather, who passed several years ago.

 
The fourteenth of April ev'ry year
Brings to my eye a bitter-sweet tear.
I think of my Granddad, who in life,
Showed me the way to master the strife.

He taught me to work and pull my weight,
He said this would keep food on my plate.
He taught me to love my family
And said it would pay, "Just wait and see."

He taught me to be a Christian true,
For loving favor in prayer to sue.
I miss him so, now that he is gone,
His race is run, the life-crown he won.

I have his pictures all on my wall,
And in my heart he stands ever tall,
To light the way when I do not know
Just how or when or where I should go.

I hope that when I've grown old and gray
And neared the end of life's weary way,
That I, like him, shall have lived while here
To know that my Lord is ling'ring near.

And though I miss him more ev'ry day,
I'm glad to know that he's free from the fray:
No more in pain will he suffer here,
He's home with Christ, Whom he loved so dear.
 
H. L. Gradowith
04-14-97
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Thanks again to AB:   YOU'VE HAD TOO MUCH COFFEE WHEN...
 
- You answer the door before people knock.
- Juan Valdez has named his donkey after you.
- You just completed another sweater and you don't know how to knit.
- You spend your vacations visiting "Maxwell House"
- You ski uphill.
- You get a speeding ticket even when you're parked.
- You can type sixty words per minute with your feet.
- You speed walk in your sleep.
- The Nurse needs a scientific calculator to take your pulse.
- You haven't blinked since the last lunar eclipse.
- You grind your coffee beans in your mouth.
- You sleep with your eyes open.
- You have to watch videos in fast-forward.
- You're the employee of the month at the local coffee house and you don't even work there.
- You walk twenty miles on your treadmill before you realize it's not plugged in.
- The only time you're standing still is during an earthquake.
- Starbucks owns the mortgage on your house.
- Instant coffee takes too long.
- You have a picture of your coffee mug on your coffee mug.
- You help your dog chase its tail.
- You speak perfect Arabic without ever taking a lesson.
- Your first-aid kit contains 2-pints of coffee with an I-V hookup.
- You short out motion detectors.
- You don't even wait for the water to boil anymore.
- You think CPR stands for "Coffee Provides Resuscitation."
- You lick your coffee pot clean.
- Your eyes stay open when you sneeze.
- You chew on other people's fingernails.
- All your kids are named "Joe"
- Your only source of nutrition comes from "Sweet & Low"
- You buy 1/2 and 1/2 by the barrel.
- You can jump-start your car without cables.
- You go to AA meetings just for the free coffee.
- You forget to unwrap candy bars before eating them.
- Charles Manson thinks you need to calm down.
- You've built a miniature city out of little plastic stirrers.
- When you find a penny, you say, "Find a penny, pick it up.  Sixty-three more, I'll have a cup."
- When someone asks, "How are you?", you say, "Good to the last drop."
- Your birthday is a national holiday in Brazil.
- You go to sleep just so you can wake up and smell the coffee.
- You named your cats "Cream" and "Sugar"
- Your lips are permanently stuck in the sipping position.
- Your 3 favorite things in life are:  coffee before, coffee during and coffee after.
- You can't even remember your second cup.
- You soak your dentures in coffee overnight.
- Your coffee mug is insured by Lloyds of London.
- You can outlast the Energizer bunny.
 
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From a friend:  Better Not Drop That Egg
"The Easter story is nothing but a myth," Jimmy's high school science teacher announced to his class a few days before Easter break. "Jesus not only didn't rise from the grave," he continued, "but there's no God in heaven who would allow his son to be crucified in the first place."
"Sir, I believe in God," Jimmy protested. "And I believe in the resurrection!
"Jimmy, you can believe what you wish to, of course," the teacher replied. "However, the real world excludes the possibility of miraculous events such as the resurrection. The resurrection is a scientific impossibility. No one who believes in miracles can also respect science."
"God isn't limited by science," Jimmy responded.  "He created science!"
Engaged by Jimmy's outspoken faith, the teacher proposed a scientific experiment. Reaching into his refrigerator, he produced a raw egg and held it up. "I'm going to drop this egg on the floor," he stated. "Gravity will pull it toward the floor with such force that the egg will most certainly break." Fixing Jimmy with a look of challenge, he concluded his proposal. "Now Jimmy, I want you to pray a prayer right now and ask your God to keep this egg from breaking when it hits the floor. If he can do that, then you'll have proven your point, and I'll have to admit that there's a God."
After pondering the challenge for a moment, Jimmy slowly stood to pray. "Dear Heavenly Father," he began. "I pray that when my teacher drops the egg...it will break into a hundred pieces! And also, Lord, I pray that when the egg does break, my teacher will have a heart attack and die! Amen."
After a unison gasp, the stunned class sat in silent expectation. For a moment the teacher did nothing. At last he looked at Jimmy and then at the egg.  Without a word he carefully put the egg back in the refrigerator. "Class dismissed," the teacher said and sat down to clear his desk.
The teacher apparently believed in God more than he thought he did. Many people, like that teacher, deny that God exists; yet they run from him, question him, and attack him whenever they get the chance. Jimmy knew God wouldn’t strike his teacher dead, but he also knew that his teacher wouldn't bet his life on it.
As the old saying goes, "There are no atheists in foxholes." When your life is on the line, the idea of God suddenly makes a lot more sense.
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ANSWER:  Dwight David Eisenhower was this budding athlete.
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