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Perks Pearl of Wisdom
“Put away the rulers. You cannot measure joy.
Tuck away the scale. You cannot judge
happiness by how much it weighs. Put
away the microscope, you cannot see love
in your heart. So, how do you know joy,
happiness and love exists? You must have
faith.”
Bob Perks
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All stories copyright 2008 Bob Perks
Today’s message:
“The Moment”
By Bob Perks
I’ve never seen him sitting anywhere else. Even
as I pull up along side their modest one bedroom
apartment I can see in the front door.
As always he is at his kitchen table.
It’s small and very cluttered. There is only one
chair for anyone visiting. One is more than
enough for two reasons.
Both he and his wife are in wheelchairs.
No one visits.
They look poor by every measure one might
have for being poor. He needs a haircut and
can’t spare the money for one and his wife would
love the attention a hairstylist would give her.
Thanks out of the question.
He lives in sweatpants and old tattered t-shirts.
She is always in housecoats faded from years
of use. They barely survive on social security.
The apartment is on one level in a development
built for low income residents. Access is easy
with parking nearby.
This is the third time I’ve been there. They needed
someone to go grocery shopping even though a
relative lives close by.
His list isn’t very long but each item is very specific.
“One pound of straight bologna,” he says.
“Do they have crooked bologna?” I ask.
He politely smiles and says, “They’ll know at the deli.”
We go over item by item and with each he explains what
“NOT” to get as well.
“I don’t want the store brand. It’s too dry,”
Then he asks for six bananas. Always six. Even though I was
just there three days ago.
He hands me money and I carefully count it in front of him
in case he made a mistake. I don’t want him to think I did
something with it.
I shop for my own home so I know how to grocery shop. He
is always amazed when I ask “Seeded or plain?” “Ore Ida
fries or store brand?”
It’s what I know. Most guys couldn’t grocery shop on their own.
I see them in their cars lined up in front of the store with their
dog on their lap.
“Da wife’s inside. I just wait for her,” one man told me.
I hurry through the list and do the best I can.
When I return I always offer to put it away for them.
“No. Just place the things on the table,” he tells me.
That’s the cluttered one covered in note books, and medicine.
Lots of medicine.
“Now, for Christmas, I will try my best to get back here Monday
or Tuesday. If someone else offers to shop for you let them, in case
the weather or my schedule changes,” I told him today.
“Okay. Thank you for doing this,” he said.
Then he carefully turns his wheelchair toward me. Placing
his arms across his huge stomach he says, “My wife and I
would like to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas.”
My heart pounded in my chest.
There it was again. The moment I have told you about before.
There was no sparkle, bangles, bobbles or ribbons.
I did not hear the trumpets sound in heaven nor the voices
of a hundred angels singing.
I could not see the bright lights or the star atop a well decorated
tree.
No one hummed Silent Night in the background.
But it was everything Christmas was meant to be and more.
It was all he had to offer and it was more than any one single
gift or the sum of all I will receive this year combined.
It was the whimper of the Christ Child and the sigh of Mary.
It was the single beam of light shone down upon the place
where He was born. It was the energy that filled the air
and the peace that filled the hearts of man. It was the letting go
of all my worries, cares and concerns and the hope which
caressed my mind.
He said, “My wife and I would like to wish you and your family
a Merry Christmas.”
Both he and his wife are dying. They are on hospice.
There it is. Do you feel “The Moment?”
“I believe in you!”
Bob
I encourage you to share my stories but I do ask that you
keep my name and contact information with my work.
If you would like to receive Bob’s Inspirational
stories, please visit http://www.IWishYouEnough.com
and submit your email address.
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“I Wish You enough!”
© 2001 Bob Perks
I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.
I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear
much bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish you enough “Hello’s” to get you through the final “Goodbye.”
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