Heart Touchers

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{SFTH} *Grandma's Rocking Chair* 4/3/01

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Grandma's Rocking Chair

by Linda Sherwood

Carved out of a mighty Oak
It now graces a corner of our living room

The wood worn smooth
By hands big and small
As the small hands grew
And the big hands wrinkled

The left armrest is gouged,
Where my brother practiced carving
With his new jackknife

One of the slats in its back
Has been repaired. Broken
In some friendly roughhousing fight

Grandma owned it first.
It's wood stained dark and stern.
Mom got it next, but the cushion's cloth
Was worn and bare with springs showing through.

Dad took charge and had it repaired.
The wood stained light and understanding.
The seat covered with a maroon vinyl cloth
That was Kool-aid proof.

I used to crawl up into my mother's lap
And listen to her voice weave a story
As she created a faraway land.

As she read, I sat listening,
Captured by the page breaks
Urging her to pick up the thread of the story.

I curl up in Grandma's rocking chair
Just me and a book - no longer any room for Mom
Discovering new places as I pick up
That thread used so long ago.

We are making a quilt of dreams.

Linda Sherwood
linda@lindasherwood.com

E-mail Linda and let her know what you thought of her poem!

Linda is a columnist in northern Michigan where she lives with her
husband and four children. The rocking chair sits in her old bedroom at
her parent's house. Visit Linda's Web site at
http://www.lindasherwood.com to read her column, I'm the Mommy.

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Re: *The Gift of Forgiveness* By Kim Book

I just read your story and I want to commend you on your ability to forgive.
I know that it is needed in order to get on with life, but I have 3
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Thought For The Day:

"Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back
in the same box."--Italian Proverb

Verse for the Day:

"For all can see that wise men die; the foolish and the senseless
alike perish and leave their wealth to others." --Psalm 49:10

Kid's Thought For The Day:

"Wear a hat when feeding seagulls."

Parent's Thought For The Day:

"Happy laughter and family voices in the home will keep more kids off the streets at night than the strictest curfew."

Coach's Thought For The Day:

"If better is even possible, good is not enough."

Deep Thought For The Day:

"The face of a child can say it all, especially the mouth part of the face."
--Jack Handy

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REQUESTS:

From: MommaAnnH@aol.com (Ann)

Please pray for my brother Roy. He is in very bad shape. He is passing blood thru his kidneys. He went to the ER and they catheterized him and sent him home. He lives alone and won't come and stay with me because he is afraid someone will steal everything he has while he is gone. I know all the arguments to that, I have tried them but they didn't work. He has some neighbors who have been seen stealing from him before. He is in a lot of pain and running a high fever. He is unable to get up and take care of himself. All I can do is pray as I have responsibilities I can't leave to go take care of him. He lives about 50 miles away. Thanks for your prayers. I believe God can and will help him if enough prayers go up. Ann

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_
/_/\/\    MICHAEL T. POWERS
\_\ /    THUNDER27@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

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