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*America* ______________________________________ If you enjoy this free daily email service, I encourage you to spread the word to family and friends that we may bring inspiration into the lives of many! If you are not on the list and this has been passed along to you, join the thousands of HeartTouchers.com readers around the world by sending a blank e-mail to: HeartTouchers-subscribe@myinjesus.com Visit our inspirational web site and read all the past stories in our archives at: http://www.HeartTouchers.com ____________________________________________ As most of you know, Roger Dean Kiser is one of my favorite authors so it is always a pleasure to share a new story of his with all of you... And I thought this was very appropriate on election day. From my family to yours, Michael _____________________________________________ AMERICA By Roger Dean Kiser "O beautiful for spacious skies. For amber was of grain," sang the old man underneath the railroad overpass. "Can I stand by your fire and get warm?" I asked him. "Sure Kid," he replied, stretching out his arm. Once again I had run away from the orphanage. This time for being slapped across the face for refusing to drink my warm powdered milk. Shouldn't you be in school?" asked the old man. I just stood there warming my hands against the 55 gallon drum. I didn't say a word. "For purple mountain majesties. Above the fruited plain," he sang again. "What's a "fruited plane" I asked him, as I moved my hand as though it were an airplane. "Fruited plains, my boy. They are the flat lands of American where all the crops are grown. Like corn and wheat," he told me. "I ain't never seen nothing like that before," I said. "You will one day. America is a very beautiful and wonderful country." he continued. "How did you get to see all of America?" I asked him. I was in the Navy," he answered. Was you in the war too?" I asked. "My brothers and I were at Pearl Harbor," he said in a broken voice. "Do they stay under this bridge with you too?" I questioned. "Afraid not, son. They was both killed in the Japanese attack." He said. "AMERICA! AMERICA! God shed his grace of thee. And crown thy hood with brotherhood from sea to shining sea," he sang. "I love that song," he said. I just stood there not having any idea what he was singing or talking about. "You know kid. This world is full of two types of people. There are the "takers" and then there are the "givers." Which are you?" He asked me. "I don't know," I told him. "Come on, Boy. Let's go earn something to eat." He said, slapping me on the back. He picked up his small back pack and he threw it over his shoulder. Down the side of the road we began walking. "You pick up papers and I'll look for coca coca bottles." He instructed. Hour after hour we walked beside the road just talking and laughing with one another. By six o'clock that evening we must have walked ten miles just picking up papers and searching for bottles. "Bottles is get'n a little heavy. Let's cash them in and head back to camp and eat," he told me. On the way back we walked into a small roadside store where we traded in the bottles for fifty-six cents. The old man bought a package of hot dogs, a can of pork-n-beans and a can of dog food. "We ain't gonna eat no dog food are we?" I asked him. "You'll see," said the man, as he laughed out loud. Just before we got back to the freeway bridge we stopped in at a gas station. We walked into the washroom and started to wash our hands and face. "OK. You two bums get your butts out of here," yelled the gas station owner, as he pushed the door open with his foot. The old man said not a word. He just dried his face and then he walked outside and stood there waiting on me. "And don't come back here," said the man, as he spit some chewing tobacco which landed on the shoe of the old man. "We didn't mean to unconvinced anyone" he told the station owner. "Just get out of here," said the man. We took our days work and we headed back to camp. When we arrived the old man opened the can of beans, and the dog food with his knife. Then he raked the dog food out over by the bushes and he rinsed the can out with the water from his canteen. Then he cut up the hot dogs into little pieces and he mixed the pieces into the beans and divided them between us. "What's that dog food for?" I asked him. "Something will come along that's hungry," he told me. "You have to eat with the sharp lid kid. So don't cut you tongue." "Why did we have to pick up all those papers and trash?" I asked him, as we were eating. "It's like I told you this morning kid. There are "takers" in this life and then there are "givers." Most people that I know are "takers." Today we gave a little and we took a little," he said. "America! America! God shed his grace on thee. And crown thy hood with brotherhood. From sea to shining sea," he sang. "Are you going to be at "taker or are you going to be a "giver" when you grown up," he asked me. "I'm gonna be a "giver," I told him. "I know you are boy," he said, smiling at me. Later that evening the police came and took the two of us to the Duval County Jail for loitering. I never saw him again after that. But I can tell you this. I have never forgot meeting my first role model. Roger Dean Kiser, Sr. trampolineone@webtv.net Write Roger and let him know your thoughts on his story! _______________________ Roger Dean Kiser is the author of the book "Orphan, A True Story of Abandonment, Abuse and Redemption." He is now working on second and third books which will be titled "The Sad Orphan" and "The Adult Orphan". Roger also writes non-fiction short stories which he displays on his web site "The Sad Orphan" located at: http://www.geocities.com/trampolineone Since it's beginning "The Sad Orphan Web Site" has become one of the most read child abuse web sites in the world. At last count it had a readership of about 2.6 million since November of 1999. Roger will never forget how he and other children were treated as though they were less than human while living in a Jacksonville, Florida orphanage in the 1950s and 1960s. You can order Roger's book through Amazon.com at this link: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1580624480/o/qid=975333679/sr=8-1/straighfromthe0a/107-5931457-7011735 If you missed the interview we did with Roger, you can check it out at our web site at this link: http://www.HeartTouchers.com/roger_dean_kiser_sr_/ _________________________________________ MICHAEL T. POWERS www.HeartTouchers.com "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Galatians 2:20 _________________________________________ The copyrights to the stories that appear in HeartTouchers.com are owned by the authors and are used with their permission. We refuse to run stories without the author's permission and contact info listed after the story. We also refuse to publish stories listed as "author unknown." (All of which violates Copyright Law and the rights of the authors.) This e-mail may be forwarded in its entirety, but please do not cut and paste the stories to be used elsewhere unless you have contacted and been given permission by the individual writer. Thank you so much for honoring the rights of those writers who graciously share their stories with us! __________________________________________ Video Imagery --Michael's Video Production Business "I thought of you first after my family sat down to watch the video we gave them. They loved it, to say the least! Within thirty seconds my mom was crying and my dad did too. They said it was the best Christmas gift we could have given them!! You did such a beautiful job! They were so surprised and so touched--they really, really, really loved it. Thanks for helping to make it so special to us all. My mom mentioned how the songs were perfect for the video too! Thanks again!" Kelli-- College Station, TX Let me make you a video from your photos! Check out my video production business by visiting: http://www.hearttouchers.com/video_imagery/ AOL Users click here: Video Imagery ___________________________________________ Would you like to see your story in HeartTouchers.com? Writer's guidelines can be found on our Web site here: http://www.HeartTouchers.com/guidelines/ ___________________________________________ "I need a daily source of inspiration and encouragement in my life!" SUBSCRIBE: To become a HeartTouchers.com Member send a blank e-mail to: HeartTouchers-subscribe@myinjesus.com Then get ready to laugh, cry, and be deeply touched by some of the best stories on the Internet! __________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: Send a blank e-mail to: HeartTouchers-unsubscribe@myinjesus.com __________________________________________ Do you feel as if life has no meaning for you? http://www.greatcom.org/english/four.htm __________________________________________ 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, $8.95 (No other charges), as compared to $14.95 + shipping and handling for the print book. Plus you can download the EBook and begin reading the stories in a few minutes! EBooks are read via Acrobat Reader, which is software that most of you already have on your computer. And if for some reason you don't, it can be downloaded free of charge at the web site. So for those of you who don't want to wait for the print book to be delivered, check out this web site to order the EBook version of Straight From the Heart "A Celebration of Life." http://www.booklocker.com/bookpages/michaeltpowers01.html |
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Touching Lives - One E-mail at a Time! Author Michael T. Powers - HeartTouchers @ aol.com
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