I received a "Forward" from one of my friends today, and although I thought the sentiments were from a place of caring and were worthy of sharing, I did not agree with them exactly as they were written. I do not like to pass on things I am not totally behind, as they stand, so I reworded "A.W.'s" sentiments to reflect my own sentiments along those same lines.

My version of the Anonymous Writer's Sentiments

To understand the value of a sister or brother,

Ask someone who has one

Who was there for them

When they needed them.  

To understand the value of ten years,

Ask a married couple 

Who had struggled with infertility

And FINALLY had a baby. 

To understand the value of four years,

Ask a graduate who had to pay his or her own way,

Working two jobs and studying through the holidays

To make his or her dream come true. 

To understand the value of one year,

Ask a wife whose husband has just been called away 

To serve his country in time of war,

And she wonders how she'll hold things together.

To understand the value of nine months,

Ask a mother who rejoices in the birth of her healthy baby, 

And the mother who waited to rejoice, 

Yet whose baby was stillborn.

To understand the value of one month,

Ask a man who was just turned down

For an extension on his loan 

That would've enabled him to save his home. 

To understand the value of one week,

Ask an editor what goes into the creating

Of a weekly newspaper, and what goes on

Behind the scenes that no one can possibly know. 

To understand the value of one minute,

You can probably remember how you felt when 

You just missed that crucial bus, train, or plane,

Changing your whole day – or your whole life. 

To understand the value of one second,

Ask those who were spared from being in a disaster

Because they chose to move to a different spot

Or moved for heaven-only-knows what reason. 

Time waits for no one and plays no favorites.

Treasure every second, every minute, every hour,

For you will never have those moments again

In which to create the value that lives in the years.

Yet most importantly of all,

Treasure those who are important to you

And those who are attached to you

By family bonds or friendship:

Once they are gone,

You will wish you had more time

In which to show them you cared

And to nurture the relationship.

In the final analysis,

Our relationships with each other

Are the reason we want to stay around

And enjoy the blessings in this life!

Appreciate Time! Appreciate each other!

Maramis

A New Year; A New Blog Site!

Hello out there in BloggerLand! This is my very first post. Until I get the feel of things, I probably won't be posting much on here. I decided to create this Blog site (with some nudging from my son) to complement my Web site, which is in the making as I write this.

Credit for creating this Blog site goes to my knowledgeable granddaughter, who has been blogging for years. And credit for creating my Web site goes to my son, who not only loves me enough to customize it with all those daisies (my favorite flower), but to spend his time setting it up for me because otherwise it would still be in Limbo, where it's been for many moons.

That's it for now. I can't wait till I really know what I'm doing!

Maramis