A Rose For Mother

Enjoy!

A Rose for Mother
by Cleo M. Shoffstall

Another Mother’s Day is here,
Bringing joy and pleasures new,
On this special day, Mother dear,
I want to remember you.

I cannot give you costly gifts,
And I’ve told you this before,
No matter what I give to you,
You give back much, much more.

I’m giving you a pure, sweet rose,
Gathered in the early morn,
This rose you planted in my heart,
The day that I was born.

In kindly, loving thoughts of you,
And with the faith you still impart,
The rose I give to you today,
Is the love that’s in my heart.

 

 

Advertisement

Think You’re Too Old? Watch This!

Elisabeth Kirkby, 93, has just about done it all. She was a soap star in the 1970’s hit TV show, Number 96. She then became a member of Parliament for the Democrats and received the Order of Australia medal. Today she’s become the country’s oldest PhD. 

 

What an inspiration!

story and video credit: Australian Broadcasting Corporation

To The Giving Angels

Mothers risk their own life for the unborn child
Mothers risk their own health for the sake of the child
Mothers are the First Givers of our world
Mothers are the First Angels of our world Happy
Mother’s Day To The Giving Angels of Our World
                                            —Paul Mark Sutherland

original graphic credit: unknown

Ohio Teen Takes His Great-Grandmother To Her First Prom

It was a senior prom like no other.

Along with many others nationwide, Ohio resident Delores Dennison had the prom experience of her life this week, including the perfect dress, the perfect dance and the perfect date — her great-grandson, Austin.

Austin Dennison, a 19-year-old senior at Parkway High School in Rockford, Ohio, asked his 89-year-old “Granny DD” to be his date after learning she’d never gone to prom when she was a teen, the Times Bulletin reports.

Inspired by his government teacher, whose brother took their grandmother to his senior dance, Dennison called up his great-grandma and asked her to be his guest..

“He said, ‘Grandma, I want you to go to the prom with me,'” Delores Dennison told the Times Bulletin. “I had a bad heart attack and stroke. ‘I’m not that good on my feet,’ I told him.”

But she agreed to go, and the rest is (adorable) history.

Austin bought his great-grandmother a pearl necklace the day before the prom, and played his guitar and sang Iris for her.

The night of prom, they ate dinner at Bob Evans, which is one of her favorite restaurants. And when they arrived at the dance, they had classic prom pictures taken, then danced together.

The band played the Frank Sinatra song Delores, a song her husband used to sing to her (“I love the kisses of Delores”) and “there was a standing ovation when we came out,” said Austin, who plans to attend Florida Gulf Coast University in the fall.

The night ended well: “We got home shortly after 9 p.m., later than I go to bed these days,” said Delores.

 

_____________________________________
This story originally appeared on USA Today Network:
Lindsay Deutsch, USA TODAY12:15 p.m. EDT May 2, 2014
_____________________________________

 

Helping Others See

California doctors restore eyesight of agricultural workers, needy patients

To many, Sonoma County, California, summons images of fine wines, lush scenery and elegant dinners. But Daniel Rabkin, program manager of Sonoma County Operation Access, and his colleagues are well aware that many in the community live in poverty with limited access to medical treatment.

On Make A Difference Day, Rabkin banded together with a group of ophthalmologists and their staffs to save the eyesight of 24 area agricultural workers and day laborers and another six needy cataract patients.

“By the end of Make A Difference Day, 30 people with limited means who never expected to get the help that they needed — and at no cost — were seeing a bright future ahead,” says Rabkin.

Ophthalmologists Robert Anderson, Gary Barth and Daniel Rich of the Eye Care Institute, Santa Rosa, Calif., fueled the project. They performed surgery on agricultural workers with pterygia, a blinding growth often caused by excessive exposure to sunlight.

On the same day, Dr. Naveen Chandra and his surgical team at Kaiser Permanente in Martinez, Calif., restored the sight of six needy cataract patients.

Those in need learned of the program through news media and word-of-mouth campaigns organized by Rabkin and others.

“These patients are enormously and rightly grateful to the doctors who donated their time and skill for surgery that the patients definitely needed but could not afford,” says Sally Giovinco, office manager of the Eye Care Institute “They lined up all the way out the door to check in an office most had never been to before and some didn’t speak any English. … From beginning to end, the patients and all of us were privileged to be part of something so completely positive.”

This article was written by Nancy Dunham, and first appeared in USA TODAY WEEKEND

 

credits: Martin E. Klimek, Nancy Dunham, USA Today

I’m Speechless!

What a stunningly beautiful story …by stunningly beautiful and giving friends. Wow!

Enjoy!

Last Wish: To Serve Others

Don Vogel of Spokane, Wash., who committed his life to serving others, is excited to do it one last time. “Because it gives me self-worth,” Vogel said. “And since I’ve had these strokes, it’s kind of important to me to revive my feeling of self-worth.“

What a wonderful man, wonderful attitude, wonderful life!

 

credits: KREM, USA Today

What’s In Your Pickle Jar?

I have heard, and seen, this story before. This, however, is the best of the best.

Enjoy!

Credit and thanks to SimpleTruths.com

GYA By Doing Good

The Power of Doing Good

Happiness, health, prosperity, peace, a better world for our children – we all want the same things in life. The key to gain these is within us, for ourselves and for the world at large – the key is focusing on good. By choosing to do good, you can find your place in life.

It’s An Inside Job

My motto “Think good, speak good, and do good” is a life changing axiom that can lead you on your personal journey, filled with opportunities to connect to yourself and activate your own goodness.

With life dishing out trials and tribulations for us all, the challenge is to constantly come up with creative solutions to responsibly face these, taking into account our potential impact on others and the planet.

If you choose to concentrate on good thoughts, communicate positively with others and act out your goodness by doing good deeds for the benefit of others, you will be transformed from the inside. This immediately resonates outwards touching all aspects of life, and colors everything along its way.

Activate Your Goodness

You can make doing good work for you, too. It only takes a small act of kindness, of any sort. Any and every single person can make extraordinary things happen when they use the power of doing good, first for themselves and then letting it ripple out to the world in ever-expanding circles .

My life-long desire to inspire and empower people to focus on good, motivated me to write the practical guide “Activate Your Goodness,” filled with personal stories and those of others around the world. The book gives you tools for making a positive difference and changing your life.

By embracing good, it will become the norm in your own life and a true transformation will really take off.

Your Part Counts

We all have a part to play in our collective future, and each and every one of us can do something for the benefit of others, giving of ourselves to improve lives. Putting this concept to work in your life by thinking good, speaking good, and doing good, will move you forward.

Moreover, our individual acts of kindness amass together and will bring positive change in the world on all levels, for people, society and the environment.

I have been privileged to operate through the platforms of business and philanthropy, but it is the smallest acts of kindness that truly have a lasting effect. To encourage good deeds I initiated Good Deeds Day, where hundreds of thousands worldwide join in and give of themselves for the benefit of others.

People from all walks of life, any age or religion, partner together on Good Deeds Day to spruce up neighborhoods, clean beaches, visit with the elderly, or do simple acts of doing good, such as baking cakes or offering a seat to others on the bus. A critical mass united around good is created on this day, and this annual tradition of giving also demonstrates how our world can look all year round.

No matter the size of the gesture, be it a smile that brightens someone else’s day or volunteering for a cause, you can find the act of goodness you want to do, according to your heart’s desire. As more and more people join in and do their part in the way that’s closest to their hearts, the circles of good grow in the world.

Good As A First Priority

Goodness by its very nature is more subtle, soft, and quiet. But love and compassion are alive and every day is a new awakening in finding your own unique way, to give from a genuinely positive place and also receive graciously. Just imagine the impact if everyone chose to come on board and consciously think good, speak good, and do good.

The beautiful thing about doing good, is that it doesn’t matter where you live or go to school, if you are a farmer or a teacher, which cultural group you belong to or the past you have. Doing good holds the power to liberate you from the old and help you find your place in a way that is most inspiring, empowering and life-enriching.

Good as a first priority allows more and more people to discover and express their authentic selves. In revealing our uniqueness through good, we create a new reality that emphasizes universal humane values that boost growth and happiness to all.

The time is now, it is up to each and every one of us to replace our old patterns, and realize that everyone is capable of making a huge difference. Doing good can be your compass.

Every one of us can do good.

———
This article was written by Shari Arison and first appeared on one of my favorite sites: Pick The Brain

Shari Arison is an American-Israeli, and the owner of the Arison Group, that fuses values-led businesses and philanthropic organizations. She leads commercial and social investments in 38 countries across 5 continents, with 27,000 employees. 

FORBES magazine repeatedly ranked Shari Arison as one of the World’s Most Powerful Women (2011, 2012), and as the World’s 2^ndGreenest Billionaire (2010), acknowledging her commitment to strategic value creation for positive, game-changing environmental, economic and social outcomes.

Most significantly, to encourage goodness on all levels of society and in business, Ms. Arison initiated an annual day of service,Good Deeds Day, where people, businesses and organizations do good deeds for the benefit of others. Starting out in 2007 in Israel, last year Good Deeds Day received international involvement, with 250,000 participants in Israel and thousands more in 50 countries worldwide.

Check out Shari’s new book, the critically acclaimed,  Activate Your Goodness – Transforming the World through Doing Good

Testing, 1-2-3

 When was the last time you did something for the first time?

Enjoy!

“You better be in beta …because if you’re final, you’re finished!” —Paul Mark Sutherland

original graphic credit: unknown

.