Easy Come




	WRITE 2 THE HEART Stories that are aimed "Write 2 the Heart" March 11, 2003 Cheryl Speir, Editor, moderator@write2theheart.com ----------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to your latest issue of "Write 2 the Heart" You are receiving this newsletter because you requested a subscription or a friend generously forwarded their copy to you. To subscribe send a blank e-mail to subscribe@write2theheart.com. ------------------------------------------------------------ Spring has people thinking of summer vacations. Maria has some timely tips to keep a financial disaster from ruining your trip. ------------------------------------------------------------ Easy Come, Easy Go By Maria Harden ------------------------------------------------------------ At the age of nineteen, I began a career in banking, which progressed successfully for the next twenty-five years. Besides learning about debits, credits, and numerous other details of the financial industry, I also learned lessons about life, trust, and common sense. About the time I started my employment, women were carrying handbags that resembled small suitcases. They had compartments for everything but the kitchen sink. Soon afterwards, wallets were manufactured to follow suit. They, too, had a place for everything, including a cheque book and pen, identification, calculator, and of course, cash. The idea was that having everything at one's fingertips made searching through pocketbooks obsolete. However, the bank frowned upon this sort of "all in one" wallet. If lost or stolen, it was an open invitation for an unscrupulous thief to create all manner of damage. This was before the days of photo I.D. and mandatory credit checks, so stolen identification could be easily used to open bank accounts or credit card accounts, and bleed the victim dry. A forgery can result in monumental losses. "Steal me," those kinds of wallets cry. "Here's everything you need to wreak havoc!" I saw this happen many times, and had to counsel new account holders of this risk. Far better to have a separate wallet for cash, a separate cheque book, and a separate holder for identification. Stolen individually, it wouldn't be quite as easy for someone to create chaos, than if presented with all three components at once. Some years later, my husband and I traveled to London, England for a vacation. While touring Westminster Abbey, I stopped at a small gift kiosk in the lobby to purchase some postcards. A young man with a backpack jostled me, murmuring, "Excuse me," and went on his way. I was momentarily distracted and when I slid the postcards into my purse, I noticed my wallet was gone. I tore apart my purse but to no avail - it had disappeared. I realized then that the man who "accidentally" bumped me, was most likely was a professional pickpocket who had pinched my wallet. I dare say he was mightily disappointed at his take, as my wallet contained less than twenty dollars in Canadian bills, some loose change, a library card, my son's school picture, and a cheque cashing card for our local grocery market, thousands of miles away from England. Because of the difference in size between British pounds and Canadian dollars, I had all my British pounds and traveler's cheques in a separate, larger billfold, stuffed deep within my purse where it was not easily seen. Fortunately for me, the thief had grabbed my other wallet, and not the one with my hard-earned vacation money. My losses were minimal, but I was still somewhat shaken up, and disillusioned to think that someone would resort to thievery within this ancient and revered abbey. I have now gone one step further and keep my house keys separate from my car keys. My rationalization is that if I lose my car keys, I would still be able to get into my house, and if I lose my house keys, I could still drive. Without both, I would be immobilized until rescued. Perhaps I am erring on the side of caution, but as the old adage goes, I'd rather be safe than sorry. I would feel even safer if I could just get comfortable using a cellular phone! Maria Harden © 2002 mharden @ escape.ca You are encouraged to write to the authors to let them know what you think of their story, just remember to remove the space before and after the @ symbol. The space is placed in the address to protect our writers from viruses and email harvesting programs. Have a comment on today's story? Send it to: moderator@write2theheart.com ---------------------------------------------------------------- Maria lives on the Manitoba prairies, where it is so flat that you can still see your horse running three days after he got out of the barn. She still loves to travel and see other places, as it opens one's eyes to how diverse the world really is, as well as giving a different perspective on life. Maria also enjoys writing, reading, and tickling the ivories. She has an active role in her grandson's life. -------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------- Letters From Our Readers -------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Annettee, Your story reminded me of the many times things have happened to me, and I have been discouraged. Then, like you, I have found that God had laid out plans in advance for a solution to the problem at hand. It's wonderful how He takes such loving care of us. Thanks for the reminder, Regarding mother-in-laws. Mine was wonderful, and I missed her when she passed away. Before she slipped into senile dementia, we corresponded with each other regularly. I often thanked her for raising such a loving son. Cheryl, I am a tea drinker, and I too have special mugs. My favorite has two sweet kittens on it. It's extra special because my daughter gave it to me, and of course a cat lover like me has to have cats on her mugs. May God bless and watch over those on your prayer list. Bless You, Pat Lowe --------------------------------------------------------------- Military Prayer Reminder --------------------------------------------------------------- As you read over this list of names, please take that moment to pray for these young people and their families: Chris Speir Howard Tim Speir Jessie Alan Graham Thaddeaus William Todd Holland If you have loved ones in the military, or who are being called to go overseas, send their names (first and last or first only) to be included in our prayer reminder. --------------------------------------------------------------- Cheryl's Corner Most of you have seen ads for the site that tells you to sign up with them to connect with old classmates. I did years ago and then got irritated over all the updates they sent encouraging me to switch to their paid service. I had even put a heavy filter on my email account that tossed their email into the trash. I had to take the filter off recently. I was expecting an email and didn't have an address to put in my address book to let it through. The other night, there was an email from the old school site and I was in the process of deleting it, when the subject line caught my eye. "You have a message from James," it declared. My cynical self thought, "They have come up with a new way to make people open their emails." I nearly deleted it and decided to check it out, after all if it was the regular sales pitch, I would know in the future. It took a while to navigate their site and try to remember the password I used when I signed up, but I finally got in. I was surprised to find there really was a message from a James. "Are you the Cheryl who lived in the children's home with her brothers Wade and Alan? If so, I can't believe it!" the email said. I could tell from the way he wrote that he was excited. He had been browsing the site and found my name. Then I got excited. I am the Cheryl that lived there with my brothers and sister. It had been 30 years ago. I have often wondered what happened to the other kids that had lived there. I called my brother Wade to tell him the news and then called James. We spent time catching up on each other. He was able to give me email addresses of some of the other people that had stayed there. Today I will be making contact with people that for nearly two years were as close as family. Who knows, maybe they will share some of our antics with you. After all, you can't have 60 kids in one place without things happening. God Bless, Cheryl ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- © 2003 Write 2 the Heart Nothing may be reproduced or published without the written permission of the individual author or copyright owner. All rights belong to the authors.