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BITS & PIECES

GENEALOGY IS...

"Genealogy is rewarding because it yields immediate results
no matter at what level you choose to become involved, from
the filling out of a simple family pedigree chart to the
writing of a family history. It is guaranteed to draw you
closer to your relatives, give you a greater appreciation for the
history of America and the part your ancestors played in it,
and provide you with a sense of belonging in this often hectic
and rootless society in which we live...

Genealogy also teaches us that while wars, fashions, customs, and
even governments change, some things are eternal--love, pride in
children, devotion to country, sadness at the death of a loved one,
and joy at the success of a crop or a new job. Through genealogy,
we are connected very powerfully to the past, and also to the future."
"Ties that bind", an article by Sharon Hatfield (Country living,Mar.1991)


STRANGERS IN THE BOX

Come, look with me inside this drawer,
In this box I've often seen,
At the pictures, black and white,
Faces proud, still, serene.
I wish I knew the people,
These strangers in the box,
Their names and all their memories
Are lost among my socks.
I wonder what their lives were like,
How did they spend their days?
What about their special times?
I'll never know their ways.
If only someone had taken time
to tell who, what, where, or when,
These faces of my heritage
Would come to life again.
Could this become the fate
of the pictures we take today?
The faces and the memories
Someday to be passed away?
Make time to save your stories,
Seize the opportunity when it knocks,
Or someday you and yours could be
The strangers in the box.

THE MONKEY'S VIEWPOINT ON EVOLUTION


Three monkeys sat in a coconut tree
Discussing things as they're said to be
Said one to the others,"Now listen you two,
There's a certain rumor that can't be true,
That man descended from our noble race.
Why, the very idea is a dire disgrace!
No monkey ever deserted his wife---
Starved his babies and ruined their life,
And you've never known a mother monk
To leave her babies with others to bunk
Or to shove them around from one to another
Till they scarcely know who is their mother.
Another thing! You'll never see
A monk build a fence round a coconut tree.
Forbidding all other monks a taste
And letting the coconuts go to waste.
Why, if I built a fence around this tree
Starvation would force you to steal from me!

Another thing a monk won't do
Is go out at night and get on a stew,
Or use a gun, or club, or knife
To take some other monkey's life.
Yes, Man descended, the ornery cuss
But, brothers, he never descended from us!"

By - Anon Y. Mous

A Creed To Live By

by Nancy Sim

Don't underestimate your worth by comparing it with others. It is because we are different that each of us is special
Don't set your goals by what other people deem important. Only you know what is best for you.
Don't take for granted the things closest to your heart. Cling to them as you would your life, for without them, life is meaningless.
Don't let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past or for the future. By living your life one day at a time, you will live all the days of your life.
Don't give up when you still have something to give. Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying.
Don't be afraid to encounter risks. It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave.
Don't shut love out of your life by saying it's impossible to find. The quickest way to receive love is to give love; the fastest way to lose love is to hold to it too tightly; and the best way to keep love is to give it wings.
Don't dismiss your dreams; to be without dreams is to be without hope; to be without hope is to be without purpose.
Don't run through life so fast that you forget not only where you've been, but also where you're going.
Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored each and every step of the way.

WHEN YOU THOUGHT I WASN'T LOOKING

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you hang my first painting on the refrigerator,
and I wanted to paint another one.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you feed a stray cat,
and I thought it was good to be kind to animals.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you make my favorite cake just for me,
and I knew that little things are special things.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I heard you say a prayer,
and I believed there is a God I could always talk to.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I felt you kiss me goodnight,
and I felt loved.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw tears come from your eyes
and I learned that sometimes things hurt, but it's OK to cry.
When you thought I wasn't looking I saw that you cared,
and I wanted to be everything that I could be.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I looked--and wanted to say thanks
for all the things I saw when you thought I wasn't looking.

"THOUGHTS FOUND
IN A WASTEBASKET"
By Nick Oefinger, 18

How do you explain
Death to a child
Or progress to the wild
Or hatred to the mild?

What, indeed,
Is the loss of what's dear
Or the coming of fear
Or the end of a year?

Where does one go
To find yesterday's dawn
Or life's little pawn
Or heaven's front lawn?

How can one see
The cost of what's free
Or the dance of a bee
Or the thoughts of the sea?

How can we take for granted
That which we don't understand?
For like water dropped on the sand
It may well soon be gone.


DESIDERATA

Go placidly amid the noise and hate,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant,
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter; for always
there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself,
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
Whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be careful. Strive to be happy.

Found in Old Saint Paul's Church, Baltimore, dated 1692



YOUTH IS A GIFT OF NATURE
BUT AGE IS A WORK OF ART----TILKA


TEN COMMANDMENTS OF HUMAN RELATIONS

Speak to people. There is nothing so nice as a cheerful word of greeting; Smile at people. It takes 72 muscles to frown, and only 14 to smile; Be friendly and helpful. If you would have friends, be a friend; Be generous with praise, cautious with criticism; Be considerate with the feelings of others, there are usually three sides to a controversy; yours, the other fellow, and the right side; Be genuinely interested in people. Be alert to give service. What counts most in life is what we do for others; Add to this a good sense of humor, a big dose of patience, and a dash of humility, and you will be rewarded manyfold.


To realize the value of one year: Ask a student who has failed his final exam.
To realize the value of one month: Ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby.
To realize the value of one week: Ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.
To realize the value of one day: Ask a daily wage laborer who has 10 kids to feed.
To realize the value of one hour: Ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
To realize the value of one minute: Ask a person who has missed the train, the bus or the plane.
To realize the value of one second: Ask a person who has survived an accident.
To realize the value of one millisecond: Ask the person who has won a silver medal in the Olympics.
İCreators Syndicate


If you love something, set it free.
If it comes back to you, it is yours.
If it doesn't, it never was.

"I shall pass thru this world but once.
Any good that I can do,
or any kindness that I can show any human being,
let me do it now and not defer it.
For I shall not pass this way again."
----Stephen Grellet


KIDS WHO ARE DIFFERENT

Here's to the kids who are different,
The kids who don't always get A's,
The kids who have ears twice the size of their peers,
And noses that go on for days...
Here's to the kids who are different,
The kids they call crazy or dumb,
The kids who don't fit, with the guts and the grit,
Who dance to a different drum...
Here's to the kids who are different,
The kids with the mischievous streak,
For when they have grown, as history's shown,
It's their difference that makes them unique.
copyright 1982 by Digby Wolfe. All rights reserved


Today, well lived, makes yesterday a dream of happiness and tomorrow a vision of hope.

Any day is lovely ... when we are doing what we love.

Money cannot buy happiness, but it can make it possible for you
to seek happiness in much more interesting places.

Happiness is not a state to arrive at, but a manner of traveling...

Christopher Columbus was the world's most remarkable salesman.
He started out not knowing where he was going.
When he got there, he didn't know where he was.
When he returned, he didn't know where he had been.
He did all this on borrowed money
and managed to get a repeat order.

Our life is a gift from God
What we do with our life
is our gift to God