START Of A NEW DAWN

It's time for Ryan and family to go,
It's time for Ryan to start on a new venture,
It's time for his young family to explore what's beyond,
It's time to bid adieu to the memories of ten long years
of minding the store, of attending to the never-ending
challenges and struggles that he managed after the untimely
demise of the patriarch and the semi- retirement of the matriarch.
Yes, it's time to spread out his wings
To seek and find the meaning of life
Together with the light of his life
And the little spices that flavor his life.
It's time to fly and soar and go for his dream!
May the Almighty be with you in your search for a new Life!

THANKSGIVING DAY PRAYER
(Clipped from Ann Landers)

We come to this table today, O Lord,
humble,thankful and glad.
We thank thee first for the great miracle of life,
for the exaltation of being human,
for the capacity to love.
We thank thee for joys both great and simple -
For wonder, dreams and hope;
For the newness of each day;
For laughter and song and a merry heart;
For compassion waiting within to be kindled;
For the forbearance of friends
and the smile of a stranger;
For the arching of the earth and trees
and heavens and the fruit of all three;
For the wisdom of the old;
For the courage of the young;
For the promise of the child;
For the strength that comes when needed;
For our family united today and everyday.
Of those to whom much is given, much is required,
May we, our children, and our children's children
remember this.

O heavenly Father:
We thank thee for food and remember the hungry;
We thank thee for health and remember the sick;
We thank thee for friends and remember the friendless;
We thank thee for freedom and remember the enslaved.

May these remembrances stir us to service
that thy gifts to us may be used for others. AMEN.

A funny song was sung by the well-wishers during the golden anniversary of a beautiful couple,Chong and Jimmy on May 17, 2004. To the tune of "Favorite Things" from the Sound of Music, the song goes....

"Maalox and eyedrops and needles for reviving
Walkers and handrails and new dental fittings,
Bundles of magazines tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things.

Jeepneys and cataracts and hearing aids and glasses,
Pollident and Fixodent and false teeth in glasses,
Pacemakers, golf carts and porches with swings,
These are a few of our favorite things.

When the pipes leak,
When the bones crack,
When the knees go bad,
We simply remember our favorite things
And then we don't feel so bad.

Hot tea and crumpets and corn pads for bunions,
No spicy hot food or food cooked with onions,
Bathrobes and heat pads and hot meals they bring,
These are a few of our favorite things.

Back pains, confused brains, and no fear of sinnin,
Thin bones and fractures and hair that is thinnin,
And we won't mention our short shrunken frames,
When we remember our favorite things.

When the joints ache, when the hips break,
When the eyes grow dim,
Then we remember the great life we've had,
And then we don't feel so bad!"

Lola Nitz' message to Denise on her 18th birthday....

Dear Denise,
Tonight I bring with me the wishes of the Mercado side of your family. We wish you a very happy birthday! You are one of the best things that have happened to us. You are our first grandchild and our first granddaughter. We have watched you grow and develop not only in beauty but also in wisdom and in grace. We thank the Lord for the gift which is "you'.

Our main wish is for you to be able to follow your dream. Someone has said,"if you can dream it, you can do it." In following that dream we ask you to be guided by four important reminders and they are:

"that you think without confusion clearly;
that you love your fellowmen sincerely;
that you act from honest motives purely;
and last but certainly not the least,
that you trust in God and Heaven securely."

Happy Birthday Denise!

TAPESTRY

Unfinished...
the tapestry has skipped
a knot on March 4, 1997
and each thread hung limp
as it cannot cling
and bond together
the dream.
Lost forever...
thirty eight intricate knots
gingerly and painstakingly tied
to bind and bond and gel
to reach
a high
a bliss!
I cannot in my misery
vision the dream,
It is lost in a misty haze.
The tapestry lay in a lifeless heap.

Frostbite
(based on an incident in a port of entry almost ten years ago)

I felt my first frostbite
one balmy day in September 1996
in a cramped port of entry
in Minneapolis... and I shed tears!

The hawk-eyed, eagle-nosed inspector
leafed through my pocketbook,
scrutinized every crease and fold that held
the lifeline to a strange new land.

With a cynical smile from the
curling bemustached mouth,
the iron-hand of power
pricked where it hurt most!

Not for a moment did he read
the confused emotions,
the frightened look.

Not for a second did he feel compassion!
All that he imagined was a nod of triumph,
A vulture over a prey!
Oh! I shivered at that first frostbite
that one balmy day in September!

Winter
death of the year
plants die
animals hibernate
snowflakes
scintillating mantle of white
covering the ugly patches of earth,
the dry stumps and brown stubbles,
giving the landscape
an illusion of magical beauty.
Winter
cold and dreary
damp and dry
cold sores, dry skin,cracked lips,
sore fingertips,low back pains.
freezing temperature,frozen taps,
frosted windshields,icicles
testing endurance to the limits.
Winter
dark clothes, heavy jackets, gloves and mitts
ear muffs,shawl, muffler, tights,thick socks
hiding the bulges and the unsightly contour
of an aging, aching and hurting body
It's winter of one's life.........wistful longing for spring!