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*The Magic Orange Cloak* 3/7/02
______________________________________ If you enjoy this free daily email service, I encourage you to spread the word to family and friends that we may bring inspiration into the lives of many! If you are not on the list and this has been passed along to you, join the thousands of HeartTouchers.com readers around the world by sending an e-mail with the word "Subscribe" in the subject line to: HeartTouchers@aol.com Visit our inspirational web site and read all the past stories in our archives at: http://www.HeartTouchers.com ____________________________________________ From now on we will be offering our book, Straight From the Heart "A Celebration of Life" for only $13 (instead of the regular price of $14.95), and best of all, we will pay the shipping! So if you have any interest in purchasing an autographed copy of the book for yourself, or as a gift for your loved ones, now is the time to get it! To order your autographed copy send a check or money order for $13 (We pay the shipping!) for each book made out to Michael T. Powers, and then send it to: Michael T. Powers 1918 Liberty Lane Janesville, WI 53545 To preview the book by reading some of the stories visit: http://www.HeartTouchers.com/michael_t__powers/ AOL Users Click below: Straight From the Heart: A Celebration of Life _________________________________________ Little Eddie And The Magic Orange Cloak By Ron Gold You had to love and admire Miss Hazel Waterbury: everyone in our first grade class did. Our teacher could do everything: sing, play stride piano, umpire softball games, draw with crayons, paint with her fingers and brushes, tell great stories, help students read and motivate them to want to learn. And she was persnickety with her cloaks. She had three cloaks, which she hung on upturned hooks in the classroom closet she called a cloakroom. It was the same closet where we kids hung our winter coats, scarves, and gloves and where we deposited our galoshes. Two of her cloaks were print over-blouses that protected her from blackboard eraser dust, slivers of crayons and paint drips. Her third cloak, a bigger orange blanket-like cloak -- her magic cloak -- was the main prop in our favorite classroom game. Each school day during our first month, Miss Waterbury would carry the magic orange cloak out of the closet and then usher us into the cloak room-except for one student who would stay in the classroom and hide under the magic cloak. Our job was to determine who was hiding under the magic cloak. It made us aware of our classmate's first names. In the beginning of the first month, Miss Waterbury did "two-a-days", cloaking one student before lunch and a second student after lunch. When a new student joined our fist grade, he or she was cloaked that same day. So when Little Eddie first entered our group, he was introduced early his first morning and cloaked, uncovered and reintroduced by Miss Waterbury after lunch. "Eddie cannot hide from us," Gregory Franco said without malice. "We'd find him fast. He's the only one with a hump on his back and metal things on his legs." Eddie grinned his gummy smile. "That's me," he said, tugging on the navy clip-on suspenders that held up his squat mid-blue trousers to the light-blue-and-white broad striped shirt that covered his barrel chest and hump. Eddie quickly became an accepted member of our class, although he only passively participated in our lessons. His mind was not as fast as his smile. And being small, deformed and anchored in braces, Eddie was the leftover choice in pickup softball games. In dodge ball, his braces made him an almost stationary target that even girls could hit with ease. And when we played stoop tag, Eddie had trouble trying to catch and touch more fleet-footed classmates. But he never stopped smiling and trying, even though he limped. Occasionally, when Eddie was "it", I'd pretend not to see him, feel his touch on my back, make a fuss about being tagged and relish his breathy giggle. We were an odd couple: the third grade tall athlete and the preschool small hunchback. But we enjoyed talking and playing together -- and his perennial smile warmed me. We sat next to each other the three weeks he spent with our class. We became friends quickly. I made him laugh and helped him cipher numbers and decipher large words. His eyes lit up each time he answered one of Miss Waterbury's questions correctly. Then one day, in a softball game, he drew a walk and, when Marie Mancuso slapped a grounder toward third base, Eddie actually slid hard-and on his back-into second base, ramming his braces into his calves, injuring his sensitive hump and breathing harder, louder, and more painful than usual. Miss Waterbury quickly called the school nurse, who called the ambulance that rushed my short, round, bloodied friend to the local hospital. Then, as if swallowed by Miss Waterbury's magic cloak, Little Eddie disappeared. I never saw my hunchback pal again. Did he leave town? Was he transferred to some new class or special school for the physically handicapped? Did he die? We were only told Eddie would not be back with us. But life went on in Miss Waterbury's classroom. We learned to read a little better. And write larger, clearer and faster. We even learned to add and subtract numbers and we sang new songs. Miss Waterbury was a wonderful teacher. She taught us how to read, sing, print, and value numbers-and how to remember friends' first names. But Eddie was even more profound. He taught me to believe in myself, always try my best, tough out tough times. And keep going in the face of hardship. And how to smile, even when it's hard to smile. Little Eddie proved that in order to make a friend, you must be a friend -- even though you don't know your friend's last name. And that it's stupid to slide when you wear leg braces and have a bad back. When I questioned Miss Waterbury about what happened to Little Eddie, she said, "You'll always have your friend, Ronald. He touched your heart and you touched his. You made each other special. Eddie's a classmate you really loved. And he's a friend you should always remember and keep safely in your soul. "I have something for you," she said, angling her way toward our class closet. She brought out her large orange cloak and gave it to me. "It's still a magic cloak. And now it's yours. Take it home and remember that Little Eddie's spirit is in this cloak-and within you. You will never lose him. You can talk with him whenever you want. And listen to him with all your heart. Little Eddie will always be with you. He is. And so is Hazel Waterbury. Ron Gold Outthinkresumes@aol.com Write Ron and let him know your thoughts on his story! ___________ Ron Gold is a "people person". Have a conversation with him and you're likely to find yourself in one of his stories A journalism major in college and, later, a creative director for three motivation companies, Ron also worked as a public relations and advertising copywriter. He lives in New Jersey, where he crafts poetry, short stories, "street-smart" resumes and ethical wills. _________________________________________ Reader Feedback! Thanks for the beautiful letters to heroes. I am a big letter writer and have written to the last eight presidents, The Pope and many famous people. My scrap book is full of letters from famous people and presidents. Only in the last two years I wrote to my old piano teacher. She was 98 at the time and I told her training had made my life what it is, a professional organist and pianist, having played for 2000 funerals and 500 weddings and what music meant to my life. She was overwhelmed, had never received any kind of letter, and thanked me profusely. She died two weeks after her 100th birthday. Another teacher I wrote to (a hero indeed) was Bro. Christopher of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart who taught me how to type, hot to love life and laugh and how to love Jesus Christ. He, likewise, was thrilled by my letter and cherished it. He died not long afterwards. I have letters from the last 8 presidents, the Pope, Perry Como, Bob Hope, Doris Day, Kirk Douglas, Lawrence Welk, Armand Hammer, Lee Iaccoa and on and on. Thanks for sharing those letters with us. R. Gibbens Robichaux of Thibodaux, La. gibrob@mobiletel.com _________________________________________ Thought For the Day: "A great leader never sets himself above his followers except in carrying responsibilities." (Jules Ormont) Verse for the Day: "And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death -- even death on a cross!" Philippians 2:8 Kid's Thought For The Day: "A kid who can't catch the ball says his glove doesn't fit right." Parent's Thought For The Day "Parents are not interested in justice, they are interested in quiet." (Bill Cosby) Coach's Thought For The Day "You must do the things you think you cannot do." (Eleanor Roosevelt) Writer's Quote for the Day: "Success is a finished book, a stack of pages each of which is filled with words. If you reach that point, you have won a victory over yourself no less impressive than sailing single-handed around the world." --Tom Clancy Deep Thought For The Day: "The only thing shorter than a weekend is a vacation." ___________________________________________ REQUESTS: Michael, I met this lady online in a newsletter. Her name is Betty Simkus and for 4 years she has been in an abusive relationship and she e-mailed me tonight and was telling of a friend of hers, her name is Sharon that was also in an abusive relationship and her husband left her for another woman and she took pills and is in a coma. My heart aches so much for both of these women. Would you include them in your prayers, Betty to make the right decision and for Sharon to come out of the coma and get the help that she needs and move on to better things. Thank You and God Bless. GrannyB132@aol.com ___________________________________________ _ /_/\/\ MICHAEL T. POWERS \_\ / HeartTouchers@aol.com /_/ \ "For I have been crucified with Christ and I no \_\/\ \ longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I \_\/ live in the body I live for the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Galatians 2:20 ___________________________________________ The copyrights to the stories that appear in HeartTouchers.com are owned by the authors and are used with their permission. We refuse to run stories without the author's permission and contact info listed after the story. We also refuse to publish stories listed as "author unknown." (All of which violates Copyright Law and the rights of the authors.) This e-mail may be forwarded in its entirety, but please do not cut and paste the stories to be used elsewhere unless you have contacted and been given permission by the individual writer. Thank you so much for honoring the rights of those writers who graciously share their stories with us! __________________________________________ Video Imagery --Michael's Video Production Business "I thought of you first after my family sat down to watch the video we gave them. They loved it, to say the least! Within thirty seconds my mom was crying and my dad did too. They said it was the best Christmas gift we could have given them!! You did such a beautiful job! They were so surprised and so touched--they really, really, really loved it. Thanks for helping to make it so special to us all. My mom mentioned how the songs were perfect for the video too! Thanks again!" Kelli-- College Station, TX Let me make you a video from your pictures or home movies! Check out the web page for Michael's video production business! Visit: http://www.hearttouchers.com/video_imagery/ AOL Users click here: Video Imagery ___________________________________________ Would you like to see your story in HeartTouchers.com? Writer's guidelines can be found on our Web site here: http://www.HeartTouchers.com/guidelines/ AOL Users click here: Writer's Guidelines ___________________________________________ SUBSCRIBE: "I need a daily source of inspiration and encouragement in my life!" To become a HeartTouchers.com Member send an e-mail with "Subscribe" in the subject line to: HeartTouchers@AOL.COM Then get ready to laugh, cry, and be deeply touched by some of the best stories on the Internet! __________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: All you have to do is send an e-mail with the word "Unsubscribe" in the subject line to: HeartTouchers@aol.com Give it a day or two to be processed... __________________________________________ Do you feel as if life has no meaning for you? http://www.greatcom.org/english/four.htm AOL Users click here: The Four Spiritual Laws __________________________________________ |
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Touching Lives - One E-mail at a Time! Author Michael T. Powers - HeartTouchers @ aol.com
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