Patience




	WRITE 2 THE HEART Stories that are aimed "Write 2 the Heart May 13, 2004 Cheryl Speir, Editor, moderator@write2theheart.com Welcome to your latest issue of "Write 2 the Heart." All new subscribers will receive a free downloadable copy of the e- cookbook, "Write 2 the Heart of the Chocolate Lover." To join, send an e-mail with subscribe written in the subject line to: subscribe @ write2theheart.com. *Advertisement* Tired of high cable bills? You may want to consider Dish Network. Right now you get free installation and free equipment when you sign up for one year of programming. You can get more programming than what is offered by most cable companies for less. Compare what you now have with the Dish Network programming packages at: http://cognigen.net/dish/?cbspeir Do you have a heart-touching or inspiring story to share? Send it in the body of a plain email, no graphic or colorful back- grounds please. Write 'submission' in the subject line. Don't forget to write a brief bio to introduce yourself to our readers. You may include your family friendly websites, information on your books, newsletters, and upcoming projects. Email your submission to: moderator@write2theheart.com. We always love to hear stories from new, first time writers. Until the end of June, I have a writer’s appreciation gift of a bookmark and pin for each writer whose story appears in Write 2 the Heart. There is a limit of three per author. There will be a new appreciation gift offered in July. Patience brought the gift of patience to hurting Patricia. Confused? You will soon see how Patience helped Patricia to rejoin life once more after a devastating blow. Gifts of Patience By Patricia Spork Loss of a loved one can cause one to become a hermit, to seek solitude, to hide from society. I know this to be true, for it happened to me after losing my 19-year-old son, Casey, to depression and suicide on 12-26-2000. Christmas used to be my favorite holiday. You can imagine how the holiday affects me now. My precious daughter, Carla - 6 years Casey's senior - gifted me a 15-month-old Quarter horse the second Christmas after her brother's death. Carla sought to get me out of the house more - to taste life again with the living. Patience, a sorrel filly, was an ornery gal: rearing, biting, kicking - a real challenge for a challenged individual - a mother grieving for her son. But Patience, even with her equine fury, gave me daily reason for outdoor activity. Watering, feeding, grooming, and training became rituals I looked forward to, as eventually did Patience in her impatient way. Over time, bonding occurred between horse and human - the type of bonding that brought me patience taming the wild filly, and patience with people that challenged my fragile, emotional state when in public. You see, Patience's boldness became my boldness. Her trust in me brought trust in myself. Her emerging confidence brought self- confidence again to me - something I'd lost after losing my son. I became more capable of answering the questions "Do you have children? How many?" - when asked by a new acquaintance. I could answer without hesitating, without shedding tears. I could even smile (still do) when saying, "Two children, but one lives in Heaven now." So the gift of Patience brought me special gifts of patience: the patience of a woman confidant in herself, and the patience to wait - however long - to be side by side with her loving son once again. Patricia Spork pspork @ patriciaspork.us. Patricia Spork is the author of ‘Loss Comfort & Healing’ from ‘Animal Sightings: True Experiences of Animal Blessing’s, ISBN 0-9712939-8-8, available at: http://www.booklocker.com/books/1515.html and other online bookstores - Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com, to name a few. Learn more about Patricia by visiting www.patriciaspork.us and www.writersgraphicimage.com. Feel free to contact Patricia Spork at pspork @ patriciaspork.us. You are encouraged to write to the authors to let them know what you think of their story. Have a comment on today's story? Send it to: moderator@write2theheart.com. Letters From Our Readers Rachel learned at an early age to laugh at life’s problem. I wish I had learned this truth sooner. It would have saved me a lot of misery. It would have kept me from making the people around me miserable. I hate to admit how long it took me to discover the secret of laughter. If I could pass on one truth to young people, I would tell them not to take themselves so seriously and learn to laugh. I was sorry to read about your son. Keep us posted please. Carol Military Prayer Reminder As you read over this list of names, please take a moment to pray for these young people and their families: Chris Speir Tim Speir Alan Thaddeaus Todd Holland Graham William Julie Sagel Jessie Marshal Thompson Jason Eric Hernandez Kristin Danielson Ken Prieur Ryan Jonathan P. Wells Larry Miele Daniel Amy John Joanne Gary Boardwine Josh Hadassah Please continue to pray for our country, our leaders, and our troops at this time. 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. *Advertisement* Imagine my surprise and dismay to open my e-mail program only to find over 1500 e-mails. (That is not a typo!) All of them were spam and each had a virus attached. I knew I had to do something to get a handle on this or I would be constantly swamped with spam and worried about accidentally opening a virus, trojan or a worm. I purchased MailWasher Pro. I can check and delete e-mail on the server before it hits my computer. It tells me if the e-mail is from a friend, a known spammer or has a possible virus. I love bouncing e-mails from spammers telling them they have the wrong address! Try it free for 30 days at: http://entier.ecosm.com/link/?wybyoww Cheryl’s Corner I bought one of the pump up pressure sprayers that most people use in the yard and garden. I told my family it was just for house- hold use. I can mix cleaners and disinfectant that I use in house cleaning and pour it in the sprayer. It is so much easier to apply! Why didn’t I think of this sooner? One word of warning, double-check the assembly instructions before you use it the first time. I skipped one little step, but it proved important. I forgot to put on the locknut. When I applied pressure to spray carpet cleaner on my rug, the hose popped off of the tank and spewed warm cleanser all over the living room… and me. I frequently feel as if I live in a cartoon. God Bless Cheryl Copyright © 2004, 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.