{Straight From the Heart}   *Love is Stronger*  11/17/99
                                                                                                                        

Welcome to "Straight From the Heart!"

If you enjoy this free email service, I encourage you to forward it on to 
family and friends. If this has been passed along to you and you want to join 
the list, just send a blank email to:  Thunder27@aol.com.  
I appreciate any feedback or constructive criticism, so feel free to write me 
(Michael T. Powers) and let me know what you think!


                                                                                                                                       
 	    Love Is Stronger . . .
 
      Having a goal based on love is the greatest life 
 insurance in the world.
      If you had asked my dad why he got up in the morning, 
 you would have found his answer disarmingly simple: "To make 
 my wife happy."
      Mom and Dad met when they were nine. Every day before 
 school, they met on a park bench with the homework. Mom 
 corrected Dad's English and he did the same with her math. 
 Upon graduation, their teachers said that the two of them 
 were the best "student" in the school. Note the singular!
      They took their time building their relationship, even 
 though Dad always knew she was the girl for him. Their first 
 kiss occurred when they were 17, and their romance continued 
 to grow into their 80s.
      Just how much power their relationship created was 
 brought to light in 1964. The doctor told Dad he had cancer 
 and estimated that he had six months to one year left at the 
 most.
      "Sorry to disagree with you, Doc," my father said. "But 
 I'll tell you how long I have. One day longer than my wife. 
 I love her too much to leave the planet without her."
      And so it was, to the amazement of everyone who didn't 
 really know this love-matched pair, that Mom passed away at 
 the age of 85 and Dad followed one year later when he was 
 86. Near the end, he told my brothers and me that those 17 
 years were the best six months he ever spent.
      To the wonderful doctors and nurses at the Department 
 of Veterans' Affairs Medical Center at Long Beach, he was a 
 walking miracle. They kept a loving watch on him and just 
 couldn't understand how a body so riddled with cancer could 
 continue to function so well.
      My dad's explanation was simple. He informed them that 
 he had been a medic in World War I and saw amputated arms 
 and legs, and he had noticed that none of them could think. 
 So he decided he would tell his body how to behave. Once, as 
 he stood up and it was evident he felt a stabbing pain, he 
 looked down at his chest and shouted, "Shut up! We're having 
 a party here."
      Two days before he left us he said, "Boys, I'll be with 
 your mother very soon and someday, some place we'll all be 
 together again. But take your time about joining us; your 
 mother and I have a lot of catching up to do."
      It is said that love is stronger than prison walls. Dad 
 proved it was a heck of a lot stronger than tiny cancer 
 cells.
      Bob, George and I are still here, armed with Dad's 
 final gift.
      A goal, a love and a dream give you total control over 
 your body and your life.
 
	     By  John Wayne Schlatter
      from Chicken Soup for the Surviving Soul 
 Copyright 1996 by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Patty 
 Aubery & Nancy Mitchell, R.N. 


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What's the world coming to!  Michael has his own weekly column on being a daddy!!
This week: Michael takes Caleb to his first swimming lessons!
Click on this link to go to ChildFun.com!
 Daddy's View | Michael's Weekly Column 
or type in the following in your browser:
http://www.childfun.com/dads/michael.shtml

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thought For The Day:

"Some people reach the top of the ladder of success only to find it is leaning 
against the wrong wall."


Verse for the Day:

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things 
shall be added unto you."
Matthew 6:33


Kid's Thought for the day:

"The end isn't always where it should be."

Parent's Thought For The Day

"Old boys have their playthings as well as young ones; the difference is only 
in the price."
(Benjamin Franklin)

Coach's Thought For The Day

"All anyone needs to know about prizes is that Mozart never won one."
(Henry Mitchell)

Deep Thought For The Day:

"I have two very rare photographs.  One is a picture of Houdini locking his 
keys in his car.  The other is a rare photograph of Norman Rockwell stealing 
candy from a child."


  _
/_/\/\    MICHAEL T. POWERS
\_\  /    THUNDER27@aol.com   http://members.aol.com/Thunder27/index.html
/_/  \    "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