| My Best Friend | |
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~ Welcome to
Stories of Heart! ~
If you are not a subscriber and this has been passed on to you, join us by sending a blank e-mail to [email protected] with "subscribe" in the subject line. And get the love direct! Tour our web site: http://www.geocities.com/jenniferioliver2001 ________________________________________________________ Folks, today is your lucky day! Here's a double treat for you with both stories celebrating marriage. Thanks to Maria, we get to meet her best friend. Welcome aboard, Maria! And thanks to Roger, we see the significance of a wedding band through his eyes. ________________________________________________________ MY BEST FRIEND Like most couples, my husband Neil and I have gone through many good times and a few not-so-good times during twenty-four years of marriage. We respect, comfort, and support each other. We allow each other space, know the importance of effective and frequent communication, and most of all, we try not to take each other for granted. Even now, we still walk together holding hands. We enjoy each other's company and find as much satisfaction in reflective silence as in a news-filled day.
Although I came
with assorted baggage from a previous marriage, he married
me anyway and became the only father my son has ever known.
He encouraged me to complete my education and celebrated my
successful graduation finale. He mourned with me when
we discovered we could not have more children, and we
rejoiced together when we accomplished personal goals.
He has been with me in sickness and in health, for richer
and for poorer. We have overcome obstacles, together.
Occasionally I complain that he never notices things. I could be wearing a dress I have had for years, and he will suddenly ask, "Is that new?"
I respond,
"Yes, it was in 1995!"
Once I dyed my
hair red and did he notice? No. But then, being
wise in the ways of women, he will ask me if I've lost
weight, and I'll suddenly forget my irritation with him.
He knows the way to a woman's heart is to play the game, and
this woman lets him.
Neil often walks with his head down, lost in his own thoughts. I admonish him to take care and be aware of his surroundings for his own safety. Sometimes when we have been out, I comment on certain things, but he has no recollection of them. "What? Where? I didn't see that!" You'd think we were in different time zones instead of walking side by side. He is an amazing navigator, even in an unfamiliar city where he has not been before. He drives with confidence, negotiating his way around with ease as though he has always lived there. I marvel at this ability, and when I comment on it, his response is, "I take notice of things around me." He does notice certain things but is selective as to what they are. Neil is the official coffee maker in the house. Every morning he brews the coffee, and since he is an early riser, he always brings me a cup, no matter where I am. There is something wonderfully decadent about waking up and smelling the coffee, and finding a steaming, fragrant cup waiting for me when I step out of the shower. When he is away on business, I follow the exact same measurement formula he uses to make coffee, but it never tastes the same. He cheerfully does his share. He mows the lawn and does the yard work, takes out the garbage and recyclables. He can give a cat medication and come away with his hand intact. He is the one who changes the light bulbs, upgrades our computers, maintains two vehicles, and puts a load of laundry on when he notices it piling up. Never mind that he religiously washes his golf towels before anything else. He can cook when required, and who am I to object that his old standby of Pasta à la Neil is more often than not the main dish? I am grateful I married this man and look forward to many more years with him by my side. One thing I have no trouble divulging is that I know I married my best friend.
Maria Harden
[email protected] Copyright © 2002 by Maria Harden. All rights reserved. ~~~~~~~~ About the author: Maria lives and writes in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Although she has always had a writer's soul, it wasn't until a year ago that she started turning her memories into memoirs and her thoughts into words. Many story themes are lined up in her mind, just waiting to be written about. Besides her addiction to writing, Maria thinks she can play the piano, although her husband tells her not to quit her day job. She works in a bank but would love to have a job that involves working with words rather than numbers.
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THE RING I could not help but notice the man as he secretly slipped off his wedding ring and placed it into his front pocket. The lady who had sat down next to him on the wooden bench in the mall was very well-dressed, and she was quite attractive. I sat directly across from them, watching as he struck up a conversation with the young woman. I looked down at my own wedding ring, and I began to twist it around my finger. I looked down at the nicks and the scars which it had suffered from never being removed from my finger. It no longer had its golden luster or its brilliant glow. I took a napkin from the McDonald's hamburger bag, and I began to wipe and clean and buff the oblong circle, but it did no good. The ring that I wear on my finger is not just a sign that tells the rest of the world that I am married to a woman. It is so much more than that. It is a sign; it is an award that I have given to myself that lets the rest of the world know what kind of a man that I am. It tells the world that I am a human being who has fought and has won the battle of his youth. That in spite of my many faults that I am a man who is very proud to have grown and has become faithful and honorable to himself.
That is why my
wife allows me to keep and wear the ring that she bought me
so many years ago.
Roger Dean Kiser, Sr. [email protected] Copyright © 2002 by Roger Dean Kiser, Sr. All rights reserved. ~~~~~~~~ About the author: Roger Kiser is the author of the book "ORPHAN, A true story of Abandonment, Abuse and Redemption." Roger writes short stories for Heartwarmers4u.com, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Reader's Digest, ToTheHeart.com, and several other magazines around the world. He is also one of the co-authors of "Heartwarmers," "Heartwarmers of Love," and the Petwarmers CD Collection. He is honored to have had his story "Elvis Died at the Florida Barber College" published in "A Cool Collection," a school workbook for teenage school children in the country of Israel. That same story is also being made into a short film at Surrey University in England, by Freddie Francis, the Cinematographer of the movie "The Elephant Man." Roger now spends most of his time writing about child abuse issues and giving talks in the Georgia School system. He states that he never forgot how he and 300 other children were treated as though they were less than human while living in a Jacksonville, Florida, orphanage. You can purchase Roger's book, "ORPHAN" in major book stores or order from Amazon.com at: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1580624480/o/qid=975333679/sr=8 -1/straighfromthe0a/107-5931457-7011735 Check out Roger's interview at HeartTouchers: http://www.storiesfrommyheart.com/roger_dean_kiser_sr_/ Check out Judy Kiser's interview (Roger's wife) at HeartTouchers: http://www.storiesfrommyheart.com/judy_kiser/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Find out how Roger Dean Kiser, Sr., is using his life to spell success for orphans coast to coast! He's started the Sad Orphan Foundation in hopes that other orphans may experience kindness. As Roger said, it was acts of kindness, however small, that saved him. For more information, please visit Roger's web site at http://www.geocities.com/thesadorphanfoundation. You may send your check or money order to: THE SAD
ORPHAN FOUNDATION
Or click on
his website and donate using your credit card using PayPal!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Find out how
you can help Brittnia Brandl spread the Word in Africa!
Check out http://www.hearttouchers.com/jesus_film,
a site powered by one of my favorite married couples,
Michael and Kristi Powers! Whether you're donating
money to meet her goal of $3500 or your prayers, I know
that Brittnia would certainly appreciate you passing
on the love! Send donations to: Brittnia Brandl,
P.O. Box 393, Clinton, WI 53525. You can contact her at [email protected].
FROM OUR FRIENDLY E-MAIL CARRIER In response to "Fast Pitch in Heaven" by Diane Dean White (http://geocities.com/jenniferioliver2001/030502.htm) This was a good story, as they ALL are! I enjoy reading them. - Your friend in cyberspace and the Lord, Nancee _________________________________________________________ LOVE, JENNIFER I. OLIVER AND FAMILY [email protected] When you are born, you cry and everyone is happy. So live your life in such a way that when you die, everyone cries and you are happy. - Unknown The quote above is derived from "To live that in thy last long sleep, Smiles may be thine wile all around thee weep." - Nellie L. Wallace, June 24, 1873 _________________________________________________________ This E-mail may be forwarded in its entirety, but first ask the writer for permission before forwarding. Thank you for doing the decent thing! Ü ________________________________________________________ SUBMIT STORY, QUOTE, OR FAMILY LOVE MOMENT: http://www.geocities.com/jenniferioliver2001/submission.htm FEEDBACK: [email protected] ________________________________________________________ |
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