Sunday Night Football Fun..ny:

So here I sit, curled up on my couch, fire burning in the fireplace just in the background of my laptop screen, the Big TV is on, it's week 5 of NFL, The patriots are showing the world that they are in fact an NFL caliber football team, despite last week's showing.

All the pregame talked about was how Tom Brady's 37 and maybe past his prime, they talked about Bill Belicheck considering a Quarterback change...I mean, geesh, you have one bad day at work and next thing you know your job is on the line and an entire nation of football fans think you're all washed up!!

Which got me to thinking, what if us average Joe's had to live under the scrutiny of analysis of how we perform our jobs?  What if after work, we could tune into the highlight reel of our day at work?

Can't you just hear Chris Collinsworth now......:

"Well folks, if you're just tuning in, So far tonight, Heather's been battling the copy machine, it's been a brutal battle of wits and physical strength all night, it's a match up that a lot of people thought would be tough machine on woman coverage....wait, flag on the play, "Paper Jam..." This is going to take five minutes off the clock....Jeanne from IT might have to take a time out here if they hope to continue forward progress.

"Ohhhhh...wow, what a hit!  Greg, Heather's boss just slammed her with six new cases with only 4 minutes left on the clock, it's going to be interesting to see what she does here, does she go for it on 4th down, or will she punt?  It's a crucial situation and she faces a tough defense.  Oh, ok, she will punt the work down field.....and it makes it all the way down to the 8:30 am. tomorrow line where we'll see what can be done to pass these cases off to a receiver.

Ohhhhhh...What a hit!  Heather took it to the inside and was HIT hard by Judy, who released 27 cases of heavy hard hitting cases that need sorted and documented, and forwarded to their prospective team.  Heather was a 4th round draft pick, coming out of Rhodes State College, in her rookie season, she faced fierce opposition up and down the field, every single time she set foot on the second floor.

This just in, Head Coach Greg M. is going head to head with one of the Referee's over a Judgment Entry made against Osting, She may loose field position, and possibly preferred parking in the company Parking lot.  Osting's predecessor, a recent 3rdD Hall of Fame inductee, would have never made a rookie mistake of this magnitude!

With only six yards from the redzone, Osting has fumbled the paperclip, and it was recovered by a Law Clerk, who ran it down the hallway and deposited it in the supply drawer.  That's the fifteenth paperclip this week Osting has let slip through her fingers!  It's this kind of sloppy office work and lack of dedication that will determine whether she'll stay in the league.

--------------------------------

And how about having people announce on National Television that you're 37, and past your prime, unable to perform the basic function of your job and people demanding you be "cut" from the team and replaced by some young Andrew-Luck-Punk straight out of college!

Peyton, you keep right on throwing that ball man!  You're a talent at any age in my opinion.  Most recent Superbowl aside....I think we ALL want to forget about that disaster.

Sure, but they make millions of dollars you say...yeah, they do, and their name's in lights...and they get endorsement deals, and trophy wives, etc.  But they also have to work in SPANDEX, sometimes WHITE spandex, we all know how unflattering and unforgiving that can be...

{NEED I SAY MORE?}

They are forced to wear "shoulder pads" under their work uniform and everyone knows that shoulder pads in the workplace went out of style with Miami Vice!  

{NOT EVEN CINDY FRIGGIN CRAWFORD LOOKS GOOD IN SHOULDER PADS!}

They aren't allowed any performance enhancing drugs....

I couldn't even function at my job without my morning coffee coursing through my veins....

And the poor bastards have to work almost every weekend!  They NEVER get to sit on the couch and be lazy, wearing Pj pants, eating pizza while curled up with their dog George, watching their favorite NFL team play on Sunday.

Kind of makes you happy you don't make millions of dollars at your job doesn't it?

Um, NO!  SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!

No, No, seriously, Keep the millions, I could never work in White Spandex...and I'm not a fan of my superiors and coworkers smacking my ass as a sign of a job well done, that shit's just creepy!  

Sincerely,

A Football-luvin

disappointed Chicago Bears Fan in Ohio,

~HeatherLynn~

For the love of a Child.....

A lot of people ask me, "Heather, so you're really not going to have children?"....
And I think to myself that I know they are only asking me because they truly believe I'm missing out on something by NOT having any....

Like this morning, my dearest friend Amber sent me a video of one of her children doing something hilarious, and boy I tell you, it really made me smile.  I love that my friends and my sister Ang, have created these little lives that are lived so largely, I think the world is a better place for having their laughter in it, their love and their innocence.

And while I'm not, not having children because I don't like them, because trust me, I adore them,  but this weekend, I really found the reason my commitment to not having a baby of my own....

It came in the face of a little freckle faced red haired boy that I've had the pleasure of meeting here a couple weeks ago.  A friend of a little boy I "big sister" on weekends....

The first time we met, a couple weeks ago, I said, "hey there lil guy, did you know that today is "National Redhead Days?  Happy Redhead days!"  He smiled really big at me and you could just tell that he was suddenly proud of being a part of such an elite group ....He was a "Ginger" and he was beaming in the fact that he was one in that moment.

We gave him a ride to his house once when he had a ways to walk, he said thank you, and seemed to have meant it.

At Canal days this weekend, I once again saw him....and had the pleasure of getting to know him a little better....I asked him about his mom, not knowing who she was, and he said, "She lives in Lima".

I said, "oh, well i probably don't know her then."  Ready to change to the subject...

then he tells me "She lives in a crack house"

His eyes told a story that I couldn't dare repeat.  I said, "So you live with your Dad then?"

He said, "I live with my Grandma".

I nodded, and said, "Do you like living with her?"

He nodded and said "yeah".

Throughout the day, I got to see more of this child's character and spirit, as we copped a squat on a sidewalk and he ate a funnel cake with my "quasi-adopted lil brother" and myself.  The the two of them plotted their next move.  "The Pink Puker!"

I said to him, "Do you really think that's a good idea, you just ate a ton of grease and sugar, maybe the pink puker should wait until your food settles?  I mean, you'll probably hurl, they don't call that thing the pink puker for nothing you know"

he looked at me, bravely and said "Challenge Accepted"....

While I thought he was crazy, at the same time, I thought "I like this kid"...he's crazy, but I like him!

So we picked ourselves up off the sidewalk, and off to the Pink Puker we went.

I waited in the crowd, watching from a distance as they stood in line, they were all cocky and tough as they prepared to conquer the ride that had stolen lunches from so many kids before them.

I was worried my "little brother friend/kid" would be sick and I'd have to take him home to his dad...and I watched as they loaded into their spinning booth-car.  They began to spin the wheel in the middle, making them just blurs as they went faster and faster....

About mid ride, I noticed this little ginger boy not looking so hot, head flat back against the seat-back.  Mouth pointed to the outside...arms crossed around his little midsection.

"Ut-oh!" I thought to myself...

As the ride wound down, and the boys came running off the ride, I was not surprised to see my lil guy with puke splatted down the side of his T-shirt and the little Ginger boy looking pitifully up at me saying "I don't feel so good!"

"Well I don't imagine you do kid, you ate a funnel cake the size of New Jersey and then road the Pink Puker....He looked up at me from a bench he'd plopped himself on and said, "yeah, that probably wasn't a good idea".

Poor thing.

Later we all went to the Canal Commission Museum where we had the great pleasure of writing with Quill pens.  I had always wanted to write with one, imagine myself a 100 years ago, with ink stained fingers, and writing in the way Jane Austen would have....but it wasn't MY experience with inked fingers that would change my perspective forever, but the scrawlings of this little freckled face kid that I barely knew, who admittedly had a mom in a crack house, that would both break my heart, and at the same time, make my heart swell with pride for the wounded kid that sat across the table from me.

I watched as he penned each word, while the other children wrote their names and silly other kid things, he wrote something so much more...

He wrote a letter to his grandma, a letter he asked ME to fold up and keep safe for him once he finished because he didn't want to lose it.

Later that day, as I sat in my truck alone, I unfolded that letter and I read:

"The End" -- he stole from me, my scrawlings were that of "Happily Ever After" and "The End"....classic story book writings I always imagined I'd write....

I'm not going to lie, I saw his little face as I read his grateful words to the one person who took him in, when he didn't have the love of a mother, the security of a world not skewed by drugs and crime and loss and instability....

And this isn't the big city, this is little ole Delphos...this is happening right here...not on the six o'clock news, not in Chicago or New York...

Right....here....Delphos....Canal days....

It broke my heart, and my eyes got all teary and I just wanted to go find him and hug him...hell "ADOPT him on the spot" was running through my head.

And there are so many kids out there, just like him, who are abandoned, dumped off on a grandparent, or Aunt, or sibling....left with a piece of their heart, forever missing, likely wondering why they couldn't have a mom like other kids, who bakes cookies and shows up at their football games and whatnot.

Earlier that day, he was saying, "I'm a ginger like you...I could be your kid"...and I didn't realize how much that meant, until reading his words, written so tender and sweet.  They make me tear up even still as I write this.

I think I wasn't meant to have kids, I think it was meant to love a kid who is already here, and who needs love in the absence of their own mother.

I'll never forget his letter....which is why I wanted to share it with you, keep your eyes open, for there may just be a child out there who'll leave a mark on your heart that will last the rest of your life.

~HeatherLynn~

Things NOT to TRY at home:

Ok, so I'm trying to grow my hair out for my upcoming nuptials, and I'm the type of person who likes to be proactive.  I know that a little extra effort can go a long way, so I'm all about helping my own causes, doing what I can to reach my own goals, etc etc, blah, blah blah!

Basically I want to look like THIS:

At my most recent hair cut apt, my cousin, Tim, Whom I adore told me, next apt., if you're hair's still dry, we'll do a deep conditioning treatment.  So in an effort to be the good little hair client, I set out to have better conditioned hair by my next apt.  I'd drink more water, I'd NOT brush my hair when it's wet, I'd sleep with Hair Masks and Coconut Oil treatments, I was going to come back shiny haired and improved at my next visit...and really wow him, like "look at me, I did good right?"

then THIS happened:

Picked er' up at my local Walmart, bought a fancy satin hair wrapper thing-a-ma-bob to keep my pillow protected and was so excited for the results of this "Blue Magic"...I mean, it says right in the name...MAGIC!  I like Magic!

The next morning, I got up early, unwrapped my head like a Christmas present on Christmas morning, threw myself in the shower and couldn't wait to blow dry and see how shiny, how luxurious my hair would be!

To my dismay, After i blowed it dry, I looked like THIS:

except red, and more like dreads, less like snakes!

I didn't have time to take another shower, or I'd be late to work, 

so I had to suffer through the day hoping to pull off the WET look, which I did NOT pull off.  Instead I looked like a homeless, shower-less, GRUNGE-loving, Grease monkey who has never heard of DRY shampoo!

I was basically George Clooney in O' Brother Where art thou"

Because as it turns out, BLUE MAGIC COCONUT OIL, is NOT Coconut Oil, in fact it is Petroleum oil that smells like Coconut oil.  

Basically making your hair look like it was a victim of the Exxon Mobile spill

Some say Pomade, I say pure motor oil!

or in my case, I DON'T WANT PETROLEUM JELLY IN MY HAIR G*DDAMIT!!!

Sure, if i would of turned the jar around and read the ingredients, I'd of saw that, but talk about misrepresentation.  In researching the product the next day in an attempt to find a way to get this stuff OUT of my hair, I found many online reviews from poor saps just like myself that had the same experience.  #1 rule of trying new products...GOOGLE THAT SH*T!  Take my word for it....

And if you do try this and find yourself in my shoes, the remedy is this:  You're going to need to douse your whole head with baby oil, take a hot as a shower as you can stand, and then rinse out the baby oil and then wash your hair like six times with Dawn soap, and every bottle of shampoo in your shower.

And on another note:  Biotin!!  Great product, said to help you grow your hair long and luxurious....So I've been taking that stuff religiously.

What they don't tell you is that it also grows your leg hair and your armpit hair super fast!  So here I am yesterday, legs like THIS:

armpit hair growing before my very eyes:

and hair on my head that looks like THIS:

How is it that every time I try to get ahead, 

I get A HEAD full of mishap?!

*sighs*

I think once again, if you look up the word HAPHAZARDLY in the dictionary, 

I swear there's a picture of me as the definition.

I will prevail, long hair will once again be mine....

which is why I bought some hair extensions....

and will have a standing apt. with my cousin Tim,

every five weeks, for the unforeseeable future.

Leaving all hair matters to the professionals!

AMEN!

~HeatherLynn~

Goodbye Robin Williams

This post might be a little all over the place, so please try to follow along if you can...

So the world has lost Robin Williams.  Mrs. Doubtfire, Patch Adams, Sean Maguire, The genie in the bottle, Armond Goldman, Dr. Kosevich, John Keating, Peter pan, Mork, Popeye, and Alan Parrish.

I have grown up with Robin Williams, I have laughed with him, I've cried with him, I've seen his immense talent to make others feel.  I've read the stories about his struggles with Depression and Alcohol and drugs, and I know all too well, how important mental health is, and how some find mood altering drugs is the only way they find peace in their overly active brains.  Yet here was a man who didn't sit on his talent.  He went out day in and day out and brought the best out of others, even when he struggled so to bring the best out of himself.

The world will seem a bit less boisterous without his voice booming.  Peter Pan has left Neverland.  There's no Jeanie in the bottle, no Mork for our Mindy, and how fitting was his last name in Jumanji, Alan, ....Parrish.

There's a lot of different ideas about suicide as far as religion goes, Christians believe it to be a mortal sin, and a one way ticket to hell, while other religions encourage suicide bombers and believe there to be GLORY in it.  I don't want to believe that God, or whomever you may worship, Allah, Buddah, Mohammed, can't see the difference between someone who dies, and someone who JUST can't bear live anymore.

That's what I think happens when someone decides it's time to go.  I just believe that it's the ultimate surrender of one's self.  For some reason, I can't help but think of this scripture when I think about Robin Williams' death:  "I have done my best in the race, I have run the full distance, and I have kept the faith."

I don't want to condone suicide by any means, but I have to believe that when your life is basically hell on earth, when you can endure no more, perhaps a person feels they have run the full distance, and they just want to go home, to the big house in the sky.  I don't pretend to know everything, but I know suffering when I see it, I've seen it all too well, and too many times over.  I've seen in in people that I love....and it never ceases to break my heart.  Mental illness, in it's many forms and various facets makes us do things we don't want to do, see things in a way we don't want to see them, and feel like there's no other choice, when staring down the barrel of your own mortality, failures, defeats....

I cannot fathom Robin Williams going to hell.  I don't WANT to believe that God would forsake him because of his demons.  I like to think that God made Robin Williams and knew how troubled his heart was, and would take that into consideration when leaving earth.  Surely a god of Love and Mercy could see that.

I know this goes against everything that is said about Suicide in the christian world, but I don't pretend to  believe that it's all as cut and dried as sometimes the good book says.  And I want to believe that A God of Love, and a God of mercy also is a god of Laughter and a God of appreciation.  Robin Williams was human.  With human shortcomings, human weakness, human will, just like the rest of us.  Robin Williams was like a little ray of sunshine on earth.  He gave all of himself for the amusement of others.  He knew no bounds when it came to making others smile, he threw it all out there, no fear, no restrictions, he performed with all the fiber of his being.

A guy my mother knows recently attempted suicide.  He shot himself in the midst of a fight with his wife.  He was in a coma, presumed to be a vegetable for the rest of his life, or until the machines were unplugged.  But he's back at work now.  Why do some people succeed, while others slip away?  I have to believe it's to end a life of suffering.  Through suffering some feel closer to God, while others feel further away.  Those who remain close, go, while others are sent back to try again perhaps?

I read this today while researching the origins of "ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG"....it said:  THE GOOD DIE YOUNG - " (Whom the gods love dies young; Best go first.) The long history of the saying began with the ancient version, 'Whom the gods love dies young,' and a touching story of how the proverb originated. As told by the Greek historian Herodotus in 'History' (c. 445 B.C.), the story concerns two especially favored youths who, replacing two missing oxen, hitched themselves to a cart and carried their mother to a festival for the goddess Hera. At the temple, the grateful mother asked Hera to reward her sons with the greatest gift anyone might receive, whereupon her sons lay down to sleep and never woke again."

Patch Adams Said:  "What's wrong with death sir? What are we so mortally afraid of? Why can't we treat death with a certain amount of humanity and dignity, and decency, and God forbid, maybe even humor. Death is not the enemy gentlemen. If we're going to fight a disease, let's fight one of the most terrible diseases of all, indifference."

Robin Williams, if you can hear me, or just feel the words being written, I think it's very clear that the world has not been indifferent to you.  The world grieves your loss, and I can't speak for anyone else, but I can say this, I pray for your soul, for it to soar into the heavens, where you can make God smile, and entertain all the children up there who have went before their parents, all the wives and husbands who went first....and perhaps be the Angel, who comes to others in their deepest darkest moment of despair and says to them:  "Hey, We can head on down to the maternity ward. You know those chicks put out."

Because laughter in the face of darkness...is a lesson you LIVED, and breathed, I suspect, every. single. day.

Rest in Peace Robin-Patch Adams-Peter Pan-Mork-Popeye-Alan Parrish-Mrs. Doubtfire-Williams.  

From this day forward, when I hear the thunder booming from the heavens, I'm going to imagine that's you making God Belly Laugh at something you said to him.

"You say yes, I say no

You say stop and I say go go go, oh no

You say goodbye and I say hello

Hello hello

I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello

Hello hello

I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello"

Post by Fox & Friends.

It's that time of year again.....Who's with me?

The big WARK send off!

Since this blog is essentially for my "readers", I have to assume not everyone knows this about me, but I was a "band geek" in high school.  I was a proud member of the Delphos Jefferson Marching Band, I was in the "Color Guard"...for those of you who don't know what "Color Guard" is....it's the people who twirl the flags.  My sister before me was in Color Guard, and my sister after me was as well.  "Color Guard" was a family tradition with us Osting girls.  A proud tradition.

I can't speak for my sisters, but in MY time in the band, I experienced so many wonderful things, Disney World, Epcot Center, competing on the turf of Indianapolis, traveling to contests, taking the field each and every Friday night of football season, stammering all over the field at Adrian College....attempting to learn that years drill!  I have "High Mark Time'd", I've tripped over my own flag, and successfully twirled a flag behind my back.  Yes, I bonked myself in the head several times in learning that neat little trick, but I'm happy to report, there was no permanent head damage....well, atleast not that I know of.

I think I can speak for my classmates and fellow Delphos Jefferson Marching Band Alumni when I say that "BAND MEMORIES" were some of THE BEST memories we cling to as our days of High School get fuzzier as we age.  But one thing we DO NOT seem to ever be able to forget, is our fearless leaders, Mr. and Mrs. Wark, our most beloved Band Director and Color Guard Instructor.

There are some teachers you can barely remember in school, and there are some that have an impact on your life and you never forget.  Mr. Wark and Robin were two people, that once you met them, once they took you under their wing, you wouldn't ever be the same kid.  It was like being adopted into the best family around.  Maybe it was because Lee was my classmate, and they were his parents that I felt like they were second parents to me, maybe it was because they were such a wonderful pair that I envied anyone who actually HAD them as parents, I'm not sure, but either way, in my eyes, they were like family to me.  After high school, I took guitar lessons from Mr. Wark with my cousin Rachel, and every week, we'd sit in their kitchen and we'd strum those guitars clumsily, and Mr. Wark would patiently listen to our horrendous butchering of whatever song he was attempting to teach us that week, yet his faith and patience in us never faded.  We'd have so much fun, we'd laugh, we'd talk, we'd ATTEMPT to make music....and it was a great escape for me once more to spend time with Mr. Wark, as that time in my life I was about to go through a divorce.  Just like in high school, his teaching, his dedication to my education and him being my personal passport into music was a great comfort and outlet for the turmoil that one goes through in life.

Robin would comfort us with cookies, and they'd take interest in our lives, Rachel's children, and even helped us get marginally good enough to attempt a performance a couple years in a row at Rachel's Dad's church at Christmastime.  "Little Drummer boy" and "We three kings" were our two big hits! *winks*  If you'd of ask me if I'd ever be on a stage playing a guitar for a crowd prior to that, I'd of never believed you, but Mr. Wark wouldn't let us make a fool of ourselves, he molded us into what we needed to be, IN school, and out.  Just like he taught us how to be on the inside and out.  I don't know how much you know about band, but it really touches on a lot of things aside from music, I learned about PRIDE IN APPEARANCE, I learned about PRIDE IN OURSELVES, I learned about BEING A PART OF A TEAM, I learned that every single link in the chain is important, and I learned that practice and dedication pay off.  Anyone who's ever looked at their drill for that year and said, "I have to get from the 50 yard line to WHERE in eight counts?!??!  That's impossible!!!"...knows that Mr. Wark has been making the IMPOSSIBLE, POSSIBLE his entire career!  He was a drill Sargent and he was a teddy bear, his was a friend, he was a father, he could make you laugh, and make you cry, but he never felt sorry for you, and he never made you feel sorry for yourself.  He wouldn't allow it, not when he KNEW you could do what he was asking, even before you knew, he did.

So when I heard they were leaving town, I couldn't help but feel a wave of immense sadness wash over me.  I've dialed their phone number since I was a kid, and now at age 36, their number 419-692-2522 is no longer in service.  Their house on Westbrook Avenue, where we marched in the street, where music wafted in the air from all sides of their house during sectionals, and guitars twanged out the windows by a bunch of novices...has now fallen silent.  Now, only boxes being packed and Kirby, their beloved dog's barks can be heard.  To think that no more pitter-patter of band feet will be on their street upon their departure was just too much to bear for me, so it all started with a little "feeler" on my personal facebook page that went like little something like this:

and it turned into THIS:

Hometownstations.com-WLIO- Lima, OH News Weather Sports

{CLICK ON THE ABOVE LINK TO SEE THE NEWS FOOTAGE AND COMPLETE STORY}

There are events that people take part in because it's "the right thing to do", there are events that raise money for charity, events to feed the needy, events to elect someone to a political position, but there is NO EVENT, quite like the "We LOVE YOU" type.

Nearly 200 of Mr. Wark's former band gathered at the Jefferson High School and with their matching T-shirts, borrowed percussion instruments, a banner, some cheerleaders and a crowd of spectators and friends of the band, and they marched to see their beloved Director.

"Mr. Wark"

&

Robin.

It's never easy to say goodbye,

especially not to someone who has meant so very much, to so many.

The Wark's had NO IDEA we were coming, and actually thought that the noise they were hearing was a recording that myself and Rachel were blaring out our car window to "mess with them"...now I know the Warks are not big fans of crowds, or being the center of attention, but I figured, they wouldn't mind seeing all of us.  Robin heard the noise, peaked out the window and said "Mike, you're going to have to see this!"

{just typing that and envisioning it in my head gave me goosebumps!}

Mr. Wark and Robin taught and gave us so many important things, but none more important than LOVE, RESPECT and PRIDE. They were examples of greatness...in the form of someone willing to not just BE great, but to TEACH others how to be great. Such a selfless thing in a selfish world. I truly believe that what we put out into the world can change the world, can change lives, so if you can't change the EVEYONE's, just start by doing something good for some ONE. It all goes for the greater good, and I think that's what we accomplished here. We, us, you and I, we PUT something good back out into the world. All that love, and pride, and respect that they instilled in us, was pouring right out of us and right back to them. A tradition of excellence is what they represented, and I think we carried on that tradition yesterday. WE embodied their life's work, and they saw it, in it's purest, simplest, sincerest form. They saw what they accomplished here in their time in Delphos...and they saw it in US. And we didn't just show them, all those young eyes, and neighbors, and passing cars, all SAW with their very own eyes what gratitude looks like first hand. What pride actually looks like....and SOUNDS like in the form of "ewengowa Got that wildcat power"....sure we sounded like dying cats a little, but damnit, we're not spring chicks anymore! You guys keep telling me how PROUD you all of me, and HOW proud I should be of myself, but honestly, I don't feel proud of ME, but I DO feel PROUD to be a part of all of you, proud to have been a part of the Warks, of "the band" and to have been part of something that gives back, something good, that warms the hearts of others.

Here is my video from that day, 
I apologize for the shakiness of it, but recording with a ipod over your head while marching is no easy feat.

I chose to video instead of photograph because I wanted to not just see, but hear and feel the emotion that I KNEW would be present.  The cheers and roars of everyone give me goosebumps and make me teary eyed EVERY time I watch.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

and in closing, this email just in from the Warks,

I wanted you to know just how touched they were with what we did.

-----------------------------------------------

Did you get my text?  Yes we still love you. You are the best. What an awesome surprise.  We will remember Sat. for as long as we live.  The love we felt was unbelievable. When Michael retired, his party was wonderful but this was so much better  To think that after all these year people still remember and love you. Thanks Heather. From the bottom of our hearts, THANKS.   We love you always. Michael and Robin

--------------------------------------------------------

“The reality is that doing good unto others actually does more good for you.” --Richelle Goodrich

First let me start by saying that I was raised in the Church....and not just one, our family was Lutheran for awhile, non-denominational...back to Lutheran....I've been to the Methodist church...the Catholic church...I've seen people "Speak in tongues" and a few even faint in the midst of Religion.

I on the other hand, well, I won't say I'm skeptical, but I just choose to be more "internal" about my beliefs and faith.  Not that I wouldn't tell anyone if asked that I am spiritual...I just don't try to convert every person I meet, and I only really pipe up about such things when I feel like they are open to hear it.  I find the best time is when I see God's work at hand.

Like for example, this morning, my better half's car broke down on his way to work.  Stranded on the side of the road, he calls me and I'm in the shower.  By the time I call him back, he's no longer in need of MY help, for a complete stranger had taken him under his wing.

A man picked Jerimy up, went back to his house to get tools, and even drove Jerimy to go get a part to fix the broken leaf spring that had locked his tire up.

Before he got to him to the dealership, the man said he wanted to stop and check on his wife, as she wasn't feeling well.  She apparently had a kidney stone.  So Jerimy, being along for the ride, went with the man to check on his wife.  When the man came back outside, he said "I think I had better take her to the emergency room".  Jerimy wondered, um, what did this mean for him?  Here he was with a complete stranger, at this stranger's house, and now the man was going to abandon the mission of getting him to the dealership and headed to the hospital with his ailing wife!

Before Jerimy could say, "Hey, um, but what about me?"  The guy said "Here, just take my vehicle, go to town, get your part, and you can just leave my vehicle out there by where yours broke down.  Jerimy was hesitant, because, well lets face it, some stranger gives you the keys to his car, entrusts you with something without knowing you from adam, well it's just kind of shocking.  Jerimy, not having much of a choice at this point, said "ok" and took the man's truck to Van Wert to get his part.

This is where it gets even better.  He goes to the dealership in Van Wert, (I would love to name the place...but better not)...and the guy says, "hey, I have half a kit here...just take it"...Jerimy was like, "what do you mean take it?  Take it like free, take it?"  and the guy's like...yeah, you can have it, just come back to us in the future if you need anything.  Jerimy was once more IN SHOCK...dealerships, known for charging HIGHER prices for parts than Auto part stores, GAVE him the parts he needed to fix his broken down car FOR FREE!?!  That NEVER happens!

So there he was, driving the car of a stranger, free parts from another stranger, and completely wowed by the generosity of others, who in his time of need, 

had rescued him.

We live in a day and age when picking up hitchhikers most likely will get you killed.  We live in a world where stopping to ask someone if they need help could be a hoax, and you might be then found "Dead in a Ditch" for your attempt at generosity....and misguided trust in humanity.  Yet, today, on a typical Friday in NW Ohio, TWO strangers showed great signs of generosity of spirit for their fellow man.  When Jerimy told the man who had come to his aid that he didn't have any cash on him to pay him for his help, but offered to at least pay of gas with his debit card, the man "Oh, no!  Just pay it forward, maybe help someone else out"..

Which is something Jerimy and I frequently make sure we do.  Whenever he and I are out together, and we see someone broke down on the road, or in need of assistance, we always stop to ask them if they need help.  Jerimy even picked up some hitchhikers once in the very same stretch that he broke down in who had run out of gas, he picked them up and drove them to Speedway in Delphos so they could get gas and then drove them back to their car, safe and sound.  Risky move...yep.  But it was the kind of generosity of spirit that this world needs most, and not just every once in a blue moon, but every day.

Two nights ago, I watched the movie "Fireproof"...someone I know told me that EVERY MARRIED COUPLE, and anyone who is about to get married should watch it....I was even told that it had saved the marriage of someone I knew...so I was curious, and it was free on Netflix, and I had the house to myself, so I watched it.  So much to relate to in that movie, seeings how I'd been down that road before with my Ex Husband.  But while it was a "religious movie" and there were a few parts that seemed kinda hokey, it had a fantastic message.  I watched it and then got Jerimy to watch some of it last night.

Being religious isn't popular, or mainstream these days.  Jerimy and I recently made the effort to start attending church more regularly...and then we had a few weeks where we didn't make it....and then today happened.  I think just reminding us that he appreciated our effort to come to him, so he came to us/Jerimy.  A sign of good faith perhaps if you will.  Not that God has nothing better to do than help a stranded motorist, but by sending people to his rescue, he just instilled in Jerimy that all the times he stopped to help others, well, it didn't go unnoticed.  If you're not "religious"...call it karma then.  Whatever your beliefs are about the world, the universe, the afterlife, etc.  If you put good into the world, not only are you making the world a better place to live, but.....I believe good comes back to you.

So I sincerely hope that you find this post in the spirit it was offered, as it was not intended to make anyone feel guilty about NOT helping others, or to say Jerimy and I are awesome people who always do the right thing...because GOD knows that's not true, we're far from saints...but to share with you something good, in a world that has a lot of bad in it.  A world filled with scam artists, and thieves, and liars.  A world where it's not common to be "neighborly" anymore,

 a world where your mom, your aunts and your friends all get robbed by the same guy...

a world where a grandma lies about her deformed granddaughter being kicked out of a KFC in order to play on people's sympathies to scam money from people.

It's disheartening to see bad things happen to good people...

but I promise you, good things happen to good people too.

So a big thank YOUUUUUUUUU

going out to the strangers who helped my beloved Jerimy today.

Your generosity did NOT go unnoticed or unappreciated!

Ever so Sincerely,

~HeatherLynn~