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TRUE STORY: My mother, grandmother, sister and I were sharing an apartment in the suburbs of New York City. Parents were divorced. My brother had joined the Air Force. I was doing well in high school … my junior year. Kept busy singing in the glee club and acting in school plays. Worked nights in an ice cream parlor. Neophyte flirtations provided excitement. Asked many young ladies to ‘go steady’. Numerous rejections... the price you pay. Then WAMMO!! One day at lunchtime I called home. That morning my mother had gone into the hospital for an operation. When grandma answered she was crying. Mom had CANCER. I broke down. Someone saw me weeping in the phone booth and brought me to the Principal’s office. He could not have been more caring and understanding. Amazing how certain events change your life. My mother had a malignant tumor which was ‘cut out’... successfully. Our family ‘knitted’ closer from that day on. And I made a commitment to care for my mother … for the rest of my life or hers. Mom lived another 45 years.
‘Twasn’t always easy. Very demanding my mother;
never satisfied. ‘Moved’ her seven times in eight years. But … I
LOVED my mother … her spirit … who she was and tried to be. My
unstinting acceptance and devotion to her ‘opened me up’,
enabling me to love others. Without this steadfast relationship
I doubt I would have developed the capacity or will to make
other commitments. Sometimes it takes a ‘jolt’ that presents an
opportunity to profoundly effect your attitude … your
willingness to ‘open your heart’ to others. Nurturing the habit
of loving is perhaps the most vital ‘ingredient’ for your growth
… of spirit … what it is all about!! NOTE: For more on Love go to UNIQUE ABILITIES
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