Tell your heart-warming story here

vomitbunny · Post by **vomitbunny** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 8:40 pm

Ok, we have this young super dorky guy at work called "Scooty". We are talking Lord God King Goober. Ok? After we caught him brownosing the boss today, we told him "Scooty, ya got somethin' on yer nose". So he is trying to wipe it off and says "that it?". "No, still there!" So he keeps rubbing his nose. He is using the arm of his shirt, then a shop rag. I mean, he is scrubbing it till you think it's about to come off. This goes on for a full two minutes. My face still hurts from suppressing grins. His nose was as red as frostbite.
Actually, pretty much everything we do to him makes me feel this way. But he is getting better finally. Overwieght, dorky, very judgemental, raised by a religious zealot grandmother, he has been tough to break in. Being "one of the guys" was like some kind of strange concept to him.
I quit picking on him, though, cause I figured if he ever cracked up and went postal, I'd be on his top ten list.
Oh, and we took our old dog to the vet, afraid she was on her last leg. Losing weight, limping and such. We had been afraid to take her because we were afraid of bad news. Insted, he gave her a clean bill of health, had us give her glucosamine and asprine every day, and now suddenly she is getting around just like she used to.
I guess the dog story was a bit more heartwarming than the Scooty story. Oh, I drew some pretty neat pictures of Scooty, too. But he hasn't seen them. That's why I'm not on his "list".

chattiekathy · Post by **chattiekathy** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 10:09 pm

On February 16, 1991, Our farm house burned to the ground. It was a Saturday morning. My hubby and I were milking the cows and our son and daughter were still in bed. By some miracle, our son woke up and got our daughter awake and they called us on the phone at the barn and said that the house was on fire. My hubby and I raced up to the house and he ran up the stairs and brought the kids down. The fire was burning in the stairway under the stairs they came down on. They couldn't see to come down because the smoke was so bad. Then, my hubby raced to the barn to call the fire company, this was before we could dial 911. I ran the kids over to my in-laws in the car and called my best friend she brought some of her kids clothes for them to wear because our daughter was in her night gown and our son in his skivies. The temperature was about 20 degrees that morning.

Before I could even get in the car to go back over to the farm to see if the fire company got the fire out, there were neighbors bringing money and food and clothing to us. My daughter couldn't see because her contacts were burning in the house I called my parents and asked them to call the eye Dr to see if they could bring her some temporary ones. The Dr. told them to stop in and they gave them to us and wouldn't let us pay for them. Then a couple weeks later when I took the kids to the Orthodontist for their braces checkup, The Dr called me back to his office and said that their bills were paid in full. Over $2000.00 worth of bills gone!

About 3 weeks after the fire, We got an invite to go to a dinner at the firehall in our little town and when we got there the community had a "fire shower" for us. They gave us so many gifts that it was better than our wedding reception had been. It took me forever to get all the thank you cards sent out. I have a little book with a list of all of the things that people did for us and all of the gifts they gave and also all of the money people sent to us. We even got a couple of envelopes in the mail that had no return address on them that had a $100.00 bill folded in a blank piece of paper. Also, the kids friends had a little party for each them and gave them gifts too.

I did so much crying during all of this, but not because of what we had lost but because of all that we had gained. Some of the people that gave to us didn't have 2 nickles to rub together yet they gave to us when we need it. We have been so blessed. We were living in a 150 year old farm house with crooked floors and 15 year old furniture and appliances and all of a sudden, (well, 6 months) we had a new house and everything you could ever need to fill it. I still get teary eyed when I tell people about this, and it's been 13 years!

I am really enjoying reading everyones stories.

Cheers,
Kathy

Jeferson · Post by **Jeferson** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 10:53 pm

I was recently at a cross-country running meet. There were 110 kids lined up in a big mob in an open field ready to sprint off toward a narrow trail through the bush. We parents always hold our breath as the mob heads toward the trail, hoping nobody falls and gets trampled. Sure enough, one 12 year old tripped, was stepped on by others, and left behind. He lay on the ground sobbing, and although the parents nearby gently encouraged him to get up and join the pack, he had the look of resignation in his teary eyes and stayed put.

My son's gym teacher is an amazing motivator and, although she had no idea who this kid was, she leapt out onto the course, picked him up, wrapped her arm around his shoulder, and began running alongside him. They headed off into the forest together trailing the group, and further down the trail she veered off the course as the kid began to catch up to the pack. Later, as the race ended, she tracked the boy down to find out his name so she could email his gym teacher to let him know what a great attitude the kid had shown.

This teacher recently left us to teach a group of very fortunate kids in Thailand. There are many examples of her wonderful ways with children, but this one, involving a complete stranger, sums it up best. We miss Mrs. Simpson.

Jef

Roger O'Keeffe · Post by **Roger O'Keeffe** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 2:00 am

CP thread look out! There's new competition in town!

Keep it coming.

Flyingcursor · Post by **Flyingcursor** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 3:25 am

Great stories so far.

Once when I was about 11 or 12 we moved to Dallas Tx due to a variety of reasons. It was sort of spur of the moment and my Mom and Dad had enough money to get us started. Unfortunately we had a terrible time getting a place to live and work and the money started to run out.
We had lived in Texas about a year earlier and just when we were at the point of living in the car (which I thought was cool) I ran into one of my friends and his family. When they heard about our plight they invited us to their house. In fact they insisted. They were dirt poor but took us in without hesitation. In two days my parents found work and a place in Irving to live.

susnfx · Post by **susnfx** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 7:14 am

You know, this is sort of weird, but the main question I have at this point is: Why did Az let a really kind young woman like that get away????

Susan

Azalin · Post by **Azalin** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 9:43 am

susnfx wrote:You know, this is sort of weird, but the main question I have at this point is: Why did Az let a really kind young woman like that get away????
Susan

Well, since I've been wondering the same thing for more than two years now, I finally came up with an answer. That's because I'm a stupid fool. <sigh>

tansy · Post by **tansy** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 10:22 am

last friday i went with a friend to a new house construction site to help her measure for stone counter tops. it became lunch time and the two workers stopped for a break. i was eves dropping and one of the men had no lunch. his co-worker gave him one of his two sandwhiches and took out his knfe and halved his apple with him.
i just felt a great kindness towards those two.

Tony · Post by **Tony** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 10:34 am

cskinner wrote:....However, that technician was, happily for all concerned, leaving for the day, and we were before long shown into a room where a very different kind of presence defined the space. "I'm Hattie," she said in her Jamaican accent, her front teeth easily a half inch apart from each other and her body round and black and about 50 years old. "What's your name, you pretty girl you?" Claire looked at me doubtfully but was clearly brightening and answered her quietly. Hattie went on, commenting on Claire's clothes (camouflage pants, faux leopard skin vest, blue hair): "Girl, your outfit is so on! How you get to that look of yours, huh? Now tell Hattie...are you a musician? Because I am too. Play the trombone, sing gospel. I just can't get enough music in my life, uh huh."....

I'd like to get my vest back, OK?

carrie · Post by **carrie** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 11:29 am

Tony wrote:
cskinner wrote:....However, that technician was, happily for all concerned, leaving for the day, and we were before long shown into a room where a very different kind of presence defined the space. "I'm Hattie," she said in her Jamaican accent, her front teeth easily a half inch apart from each other and her body round and black and about 50 years old. "What's your name, you pretty girl you?" Claire looked at me doubtfully but was clearly brightening and answered her quietly. Hattie went on, commenting on Claire's clothes (camouflage pants, faux leopard skin vest, blue hair): "Girl, your outfit is so on! How you get to that look of yours, huh? Now tell Hattie...are you a musician? Because I am too. Play the trombone, sing gospel. I just can't get enough music in my life, uh huh."....

I'd like to get my vest back, OK?

Well, I asked her, and she said only if she can borrow your white vinyl bell-bottoms...you know, the ones with the paisley flowers down the side of the legs?

Carol

Tony · Post by **Tony** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 11:55 am

Oh, they're at the dry cleaners...

Will these do?

susnfx · Post by **susnfx** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 12:29 pm

They're fakes. They don't have any love beads.

Post by **Nanohedron** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 12:34 pm

Heartwarming: no. Heartstopping: yes.

happyturkeyman · Post by **happyturkeyman** » Wed Aug 25, 2004 6:11 am

Azalin wrote:
susnfx wrote:You know, this is sort of weird, but the main question I have at this point is: Why did Az let a really kind young woman like that get away????
Susan
Well, since I've been wondering the same thing for more than two years now, I finally came up with an answer. That's because I'm a stupid fool. <sigh>

Well that's an interesting story.

Hattie is cool.

So is blue hair.

Alright, here goes mine:

I am a near-hermit. For about a year, I had not been gone from home more than a night at a time. Recently, my father got married, and, due to schedules, I was away for four days. The wedding in itself was a happy occasion, but that's not the point.

My dad and new stepmom went off on their honeymoon. The morning after, I woke up very early to go out to breakfast with all of the relatives I seldom see, then came another round of goodbyes, and my uncle, my aunt, my brother, and I started heading towards our respective homes via a carpool. My brother's friends' house was the last stop for me before home. By this time I had a serious case of homesickness, and had said emotional goodbyes to about 20 people, all strung-out-like. I was in a place I had never been before with no one familiar to me save my brother, feeling sad, missing my friends, my relatives, and my bed.

I absentmindedly went to pet the various pets that were around. One cat ran. The dog growled. Another cat hid under a table. A scrawny little third cat came out of nowhere behind me, I went to pet it and it warmed up to me immediately. It rubbed its forehead against your fist. It nuzzled your legs. It paced on your lap until you laughed or moved - then it would slip and cling for dear life to your pants and the skin underneath, leaving bloody red dots. If you scratched its head, it would close its eyes and lift its front legs up a few inches until it lost balance. It had ash grey skin, just as my (black) cat's had appeared to me when I first saw it under the dim, yellow-white lights of the pet center. Just like my cat. I petted it for an hour.

I came home happy, feeling like I now knew what my precious Nero was like in the year he was a scrawny little stray living in the attic of a resturaunt. He's quite stupid, but I'm sure he enjoyed all the extra petting I gave him that night.

THE END.

If you think my writing sucks, pity me. It's worse when I do it during the daytime, as opposed to [looks at clock] 5:10 AM.

satyricon234 · Post by **satyricon234** » Wed Aug 25, 2004 6:34 am

Azalin, that is a remarkable story. It takes a lot of self confidence to see through someone's bad behavior enough to break through to the other side. That other woman has probably not forgotten either.