Friendship...

Friendship between Women:

A woman didn’t come home one night.

The next day she told her husband that she had slept over at a friend’s house

The man called his wife’s 10 best friends, none of them knew about it.

Friendship between Men:

A man didn’t come home one night.

The next day he told his wife that he had slept over at a friend’s house.

The woman called her husband’s 10 best friends.

Eight of them confirmed that he had slept over, and two claimed that he was still there.

Who loves you the BEST?

“Who loves you the best in the world?” I would hear my Dad ask in a playful tone. “Mom does.” I would say jokingly knowing it was my Dad who did. That’s what I would hear my whole childhood day-after-day from the man who cared so much for me and showed love in so many other ways than the ‘typical’ ways of other adults.

My Dad is a man who works hard, sometimes too hard. He’s always there for me when I need him. For example if I’m at a friend’s house on a Sunday (which is a day that he works on) I would call up his mobile phone and ask him if he could pick me up from a friend’s house. “Of course,” he would say. The typical way of showing one’s love is expressing it but saying it, and by buying things for the person receiving the love. My Dad’s different. In my earlier years I would wake my Dad up and say, “Dad, I’m hungry, could you make me something to eat?”

“Sure, what a question,” he would say happily. “How about a piece of steak and some eggs,” would be his next line. “Well, ummm, I’m not sure about that Dad, it would be too much trouble,” I would say without listening to my tummy rumbling. “Don’t worry about it,” would be his reply. At night before going to sleep he would come into my room and say, “How about a cup of tea before you go to bed, hey Benjin the Engine?” I used to hate the way he would call me that, instead of my real name Benji, but now thinking back he wasn’t trying to make me irritated; he was just expressing his love the way he expresses it.

On Saturday, my Dad’s only rest day he would come up to me and say, “How about a game of cricket.” Yes Dad that will be great,” I would reply happily. On the days that he was too tired to play he would say, “Yeah sure I’ll play.” My Mom would come and call me to the side and explain that my Dad was just too tired to play but could not say no to me. He always had and has time for me.
As time flew by I started to become a teenager, and with a teenager came independence and what seemed to me as a childish game over food became a stupid idea. He would come into my room and say, “How about a milo before you go to bed”. “Thanks but no thanks,” I would reply angrily, not thinking about the thought behind his actions.

Thinking back I realized I was a bit tough with him. He didn’t want to make me upset he was just expressing his love the way he expresses it. When I was sick in hospital recently for depression he would come after a hard day’s work at about seven o’clock and stay up-to three hours with me, leaving at about 10′ o clock to go home for dinner. “Please Dad, I love it when you stay with me but I know you need your sleep”, I would say encouragingly. “Don’t worry about it,” he would say happily. On the days he didn’t work he would come and spend the whole day with me. “Give Dad a smile,” he would say encouragingly. “Dad, at the moment I can’t smile.” I would say. “Please just one smile and then I won’t ask again,” he would say playfully. After that I couldn’t help smiling.

I wrote this to thank all the fathers out there, but I especially wrote this to thank my Dad. The one who would make me food late at night. The one who would sit by my bed in my time of greatest and least of needs. He who couldn’t say no to his son. The one who would call me “Benjin the Engine.”

The most important body part

My mother used to ask me what the most important part of the body is.

Through the years I would take a guess at what I thought was the correct Answer.

When I was younger, I thought sound was very important to us as humans, so I said, "My ears, Mommy."

She said, "No. Many people are deaf. But you keep thinking about it and I will ask you again soon."

Several years passed before she asked me again. Since making my first attempt, I had contemplated the correct answer.

So this time I told her, "Mommy, sight is very important to everybody, so it must be our eyes."

She looked at me and told me, "You are learning fast, but the answer is not correct because there are many people who are blind."

Stumped again, I continued my quest for knowledge and over the years, Mother asked me a couple more times and always her answer was,

"No. But you are getting smarter every year, my child."

Then one year, my father died. Everybody was hurt. Everybody was crying.

My Mom looked at me when it was our turn to say our final good-bye to my father.

She asked me, "Do you know the most important body part yet, my dear?"

I was shocked when she asked me this now. I always thought this was a game between her and me.

She saw the confusion on my face and told me, "This question is very important. It shows that you have really lived in your life. For every body-part you named in the past, I have told you were wrong and I have given you an example why. But today is the day you need to learn this important lesson."

She looked down at me and threw her head to my shoulder and hugged me. I saw her eyes well up with tears. She said, "My dear, the most important body part is your shoulder."

I asked, "Is it because it holds up my head?" She replied, "No, it is because it can hold the head of a friend or a loved one when they cry. Everybody needs a shoulder to cry on sometime in life, my dear. I only hope that you have enough love and friends that you will always have a shoulder to cry on when you need it."

Then and there I knew the most important body part is not a selfish one. It is made for others and not for yourself. It is sympathetic to the pain of others.

People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But they will never forget how you made them feel.

Worth all the trouble

Life is a lot of trouble. And life is worth all the trouble. The best things can often be the most difficult things. So instead of running or hiding from the difficulties, courageously work through them.

Life is filled with great and valuable opportunities.
The most valuable of those opportunities are the ones that ask the most of you.
When the frustrations come, be thankful for the chance to learn from them.
When the disappointments come, be grateful for the opportunity to reaffirm and recommit to what’s most important.
Life’s many troubles will come and go. As they do, the positive possibilities grow more numerous and magnificent.

Embrace each day along with whatever it brings. And use it to add more joy to life no matter what.