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{HeartTouchers.com}   *A Kindness Given* 

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If you enjoy this email service, I encourage
you to spread the word to family and friends that we
may bring inspiration  the lives of many!  If you
are not on the list and this has been passed along
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http://www.Heart4Teens.com


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Michael's updated book Heart Touchers "Life-Changing Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter," is finally here! ($13.95)

Visit the link below to preview the book!  Personalized autographed copies are available at no extra charge and we pay the shipping for you!  An E-book version is also available for just $6.95!

http://www.hearttouchers.com/books

Credit card, PayPal, Checks, and Money orders accepted!

The book is also available through Amazon.com, Borders.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and Booklocker.com

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A Kindness Given

by Jaye Lewis


I was feeling my age, that morning as I limped from the parking lot up to the Physical Therapy Building.  I was pushing fifty.  I was crippled, and I was feeling like a failure.  Thankfully, I was happily married; however health problems had cut short my dreams of finishing my education.  Gloomily, I couldn't recall a thing that I had ever done that was important.

My thoughts became more disheartened when I noticed the middle aged man limping in front of me, his long, gray hair blowing in the wind.  I just knew I'd be stuck in the waiting room with him.  I was in no mood for a conversation.  I knew I was in for a long and painful wait.

By the time I reached the hallway, one of the two chairs available was occupied by the gray-haired man.  Reluctantly, I took my seat next to him, hoping that I could bury myself within the pages of an outdated magazine.  My bubble of protection was immediately interrupted by his curious stare.  I looked up with a sigh.  He gave me an uncertain smile as our eyes met.

"I know you." He said.

"No you don't."

"Yes, I'm certain I know you."

"I'm not from here." I insisted.

"No.  I've met you someplace before."

"That's impossible.  I'm certain we've never met."

"I feel that I know you from long ago." he said, with conviction. 

In spite of myself, I was intrigued.   We played "twenty questions," and we finally got around to the Vietnam War and San Francisco.  He had served in the Army.  He'd been wounded in battle, and he was darned proud of it.

"I didn't do anything important," I said.  "I served stateside, as a U.S. Navy WAVE, at San Francisco International Airport.  I married way too soon, and I was discharged when I became pregnant." my voice trailed off.

Suddenly, the man became very excited.  "I remember receiving help from a young WAVE," he grinned, "with red hair just like yours!  It was in the spring of '67, when I came back wounded from Vietnam."

"I've never seen anyone like her, before or since.  She moved heaven and earth to make sure that I was well taken care of.  She was a tiger, all right.  I was badly wounded, barely dragging on crutches.  She got me into a wheelchair, and she, literally, ran after a local bus, making them stop.  Then she nearly carried me on board, giving the driver careful instructions to make sure that I arrived at the hospital, safe and sound.  And then she called to see how I was!" 

"I didn't see her, again, until four months later, when I was heading home, still on crutches.  All I saw was this WAVE fighting like a wildcat, trying to get away from some drunken sailor."  Chills crept up my spine as I remembered the wounded soldier who had rescued me.

"I just couldn't let that girl be ill-treated, after all she had done for me.  I threatened that sailor with one of my crutches, and he finally put her down.  I escorted her back to her desk.."

"And then you went and got the sailor," I choked on the words, "and you made him apologize to me."  Tears streamed down my cheeks, as I remembered that day, and him.

How could this happen?  My rescuer from 1967 was sitting next to me, twenty-five years later and half a continent away.  Our lives had come full circle, and there we sat, thanking each other for a mutual kindness, long ago.  We talked for a long time, and then we parted. 

I learned some important truths that day.  First, people are seldom what they seem to be, at first glance.  Second, kindness is its own reward.  It changes the lives of both parties.  Last, I learned that though my time was short, I had served my country, simply by serving those who had sacrificed everything.  I continued that day a happier woman, because I understood that a kindness given will often return to bless you again.


Jaye Lewis
jlewis@smyth.net   

Write Jaye and let her know your thoughts on her story!

Jaye Lewis is an award winning writer and a Vietnam Era Veteran.  She served as a U.S. Navy WAVE.  Jaye says, "Women did serve as WAVES, during the Vietnam War, although history has forgotten us."  Jaye is married to a U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer, retired, and she and her family live far from the sea, in the mountains of Virginia.  Jaye Lewis is the author of the story, "From Victim to Victory," which will appear in the January, 2005, Chicken Soup for the Recovering Soul.  Jaye's book, Entertaining Angels, is nearing completion.


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Thought For The Day:

"A lot of people mistake a short memory for a clear conscience."--Doug Larson


Verse for the Day:

"And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offense toward God, and toward men."--Acts 24:16


Kid's Thought For The Day:

"Wishing you knew how to jump rope isn't enough."


Parent's Thought For The Day

"A child is someone who stands halfway between an adult and a TV set."


Coach's Thought For The Day

"The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places." --Ernest Hemingway


Writer's Thought For The Day:

"Ultimately you have to choose your writing over something else. It has to become a priority. Only you can decide what you are going to carve out of your life in order to fit this in." --David Ebershoff


Deep Thought For The Day:

If your last name is "Horse," it is probably a bad idea to wear a pony tail.


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Have you been to the HeartTouchers.com website lately?  If you like what you see and would like to have your own professional looking website, visit the link below.  Bizstudio has been a wonderful service for HeartTouchers.com and with 500,000 visitors and over 1,000,000 page views in the past three years, the website has been a tremendous tool in helping us to "Touch Lives, One Email at a Time." Although I had no prior experience building a website, I was able to create and build the HeartTouchers.com site easily utilizing Bizstudio's online editor.  It includes an Online Site Editor, Unlimited Updates, Unlimited Pages, Professional Themes, Pre-Programmed Features, E-mail Accounts, and free Search Engine Submission.  If I could do it with no prior experience you can too! Check it out at this link:

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Video Imagery --Michael's Video Production Business

Dear Michael,

I just wanted to take a minute to thank you for the beautiful video you made for me! It was so special to see both of my parents in tears as they watched their children grow up in pictures before their eyes! I loved the way you made Estania's part set aside from the rest--that was the part that really got them! The music was beautiful. My mom kept blubbering, "What song is that?" I don't know how you did such a beautiful job with the video in such a short time. I really appreciate your doing it so quickly. You have a wonderful gift, and I thank God that you are using it to create such sentimental memories. I hope that I can find my niche like that in an area that I love. Your video gave us one of our most lasting Christmas memories! I hope yours was filled with moments to be treasured forever!
Love,
Trisha
Silverhill, AL

Let me make you a video from your photos!
Check out my video production business
by visiting: http://www.hearttouchers.com/video_imagery

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Do you feel as if life has no meaning for you?
http://www.greatcom.org/english/four.htm

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Reading Books, Changing Lives!

For those of you who would like to purchase the books from the HeartTouchers.com bookstore via your credit card, you can now do so!

You can now order a number of different autographed best-selling inspirational books for the same price you would get them in the store, the shipping to you is paid for, and you are helping change the lives of teenagers and those they come in contact with!

http://www.HeartTouchers.com/books


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A number of people have written to us asking what an EBook is, since our book is being offered in both print and EBook versions.  An EBook is a book that can be downloaded and read right on your computer. The advantage of ordering the EBook is that is costs less, $6.95 (No other charges), as compared to $13.95 for the print book. Plus your EBook will arrive the same day you order it and you can begin reading the stories right away!

EBooks are read via Acrobat Reader, which is software that is already on your computer. So for those of you who don't want to wait for the print book to be delivered, check out this link to order the EBook version of Heart Touchers "Life-Changing Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter."

http://www.hearttouchers.com/books

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