Heart Touchers

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{SFTH} *A Jewel From the Past* 5/3/01

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Ahhhh....to go back to the good ol' days of one-room school houses
and life at a much slower pace. I used to love to sit and listen as my
dad would tell me stories of the Hickory Grove School (near the corner
of Highway 140 and Creek Rd), and his own experiences of attending
a one-room school house...

Which is why I enjoyed today's story by RoseMary Salzman so much...
I'm sure you will too!
Michael

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A Jewel From the Past

By RoseMary Salzman

Digging in my garden, I work with the sweet smelling soil. What is
this? I turn up a marble!

I clean it off with my worn work glove, shine it up a bit and peer at
it closely. It is an opaque orb, with a green stripe, obviously
very old, as children have not attended school here for the past 40
years!

You see, I live in an old one-roomed schoolhouse. It was built in
1884. What a treasure I have! The joy and beauty of turning up a
child's memory is like striking gold or seeing a living memory from the
past. I am really excited!!

Later, as I sit in my yard swing, I hold the small jewel
carefully in my hand. It feels warm as I wrap my fingers around it.
My thoughts go back to school days of a bygone era.
Who was the child that played "for keeps" in this yard, or jumped rope
on the hardened surface of the playground? Did they sit under these
century old oak trees and "tell secrets" as I did when I was a child?

I hear their happy laughing voices, as I close my eyes and dream. I
hear the boys shouting as their game of "ball" heats up with a close
score! I hear the school bell ringing as the teacher gathers her
charges, big and small, back to their desks.

Sometimes as I walk under the trees, or wander into the nearby woods, I
"feel" the presence of these young students. As I sit in my "gathering
room," I hear the scuffling of shoes on the hardwood floors or the
sniffle of a little nose. I smell wax of broken crayons and the warm
smell of wet mittens drying on the black pot bellied stove.

I love my little schoolhouse! Yes, it's mine...for now! Living in
this old treasure, I feel I am here to care and preserve not only the
building and grounds, but the memories that whisper through the many
tall antique glass panes, into the loft, up and over the arched ceiling
and down around my comfortable chair.

How blessed I feel! As I work in the yard, continuing to look for
small treasures of yesterday, I thank my Lord for giving me this
hallowed place to live.

Yes, I believe this is Holy Ground...

RoseMary Salzman
prsalz@vbe.com

Send RoseMary an e-mail me and let her know what you thought of her story!

RoseMary and her husband purchased this "memory maker" four years ago,
and have turned it into a warm and loving home, filled with books,
warmth, memories of long ago dreams and now, new memories of their own.
She has had her stories published on several web sites, her local state
park newspaper, and will have a story published in the Heartwarmers book
that was just released.

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Thought For The Day:

"Man who waits for roast duck to fly into mouth must wait very, very
long time." --Chinese Proverb

Verse for the Day:

"The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he is weary of bringing it to his
mouth again." --Proverbs 26:15

Kid's Thought For The Day:

"Forget the cake! Go straight for the icing!"

Parent's Thought For The Day:

"To be in your children's memories tomorrow, you have to be in
their lives today."

Coach's Thought For The Day:

"We can't win at home. We can't win on the road. As general manager, I
just can't figure out where else to play."
--Pat Williams, Orlando Magic general manager, on his team's 7-27 record, 1992.

Deep Thought For The Day:

"The food that you get in art museums is institutional revenge for the art
that you get in restaurants."

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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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