The Sandpiper,A email i recieved..

[texasman6172003]

This is an e mail i recieved from my niece. Ithought y'all might want to read it. I found it to be a very moving e mail. The Sandpiper Buy Robert Peterson . She was six years old when i first met her on the beach where i live. I drive to this beach, a distance of three or four miles, whenever the world begins to close in on me. She was building a sandcastle or something and looked up,her eyes as blue as the sea. "Hello" she said. I answerd with a nod,not really in the mood to bother with a small child. "Im building", she said. "I see that. What is it?" Iasked not really caring. "Oh i dont know ,i just like the feel of the sand." That feels good i thought i slipped off my shoes. A sandpiper glided by. "Thats a joy," the child said. " Its a what ?". "Its a joy, My mama says sandpipers come to bring us joy." The bird went gliding dow the beach. Good-bye to joy i mutterdto myself,hello pain and walked on. Iwas depressed,my life semmed completely out of balance. "Whats your name?" She wouldnt give up. "Robert Peterson i answerd. "Mines Wendy..."Im six." "Hi ,Wendy." She giggled "your funny ," she said. In spite of my gloom. I laughed to and walked on. Her musical giggle followed me. "Come again ,Mr P,she called ."We'll have another happy day." The next few days consisted of a bunch of unruly Boy Scouts,PTA meetings,and an ailling mother. The sun was shining one morning as i took my hands out of the dishwater . Ineed a sandpiper i told myself,gathering up my coat. The ever changing balm of the seashore awaited me. The breeze was chilly but i strode along,trying to recapture the serinity i needed. 'Hello Mr. P ,she said. Do you want to play?" "What did you have in mind"Iasked with a twinge of annoyance". "Idont know . You say" "How bout charades " I asked sarcastically. The tinkiling laughhter burst forth again. "I dont know what that is." "Then lets just walk." Looking at her,Inoticed the delicate fairness of her face. "Where do you live?" Iasked. "Over there ." She pointed to a row of summer cottages..Strange i thought ,in winter. "Where do you go to school?". "Idont go to school. Mommy says were on vacation." She chaterd little girl talk as we walked the beach,but my mind was on other things. When i left for home Wendy said it had been a happy day. Feeling surprisingly better,Ismiled at her and agreed.. Three weeks later i rushed to my beach in a state of near panic. Iwas in no mood to even greet Wendy. Ithought i saw her mother on the porch ofand felt like demanding she keep her child at home. "Look if you dont mind i said" I said rather crossly When Wendy caught up with me "Id rather be alone today". She seemed unusally pale and out of breath. "Why she asked.?" Iturned to her and shouted ,"Because my mother died" My God i thought why was i saying this to a little child?. "Oh then this is a bad day then she said".? "Yes I said "and yesterday and the day beforeand--oh go away". "Did it hurt"? she inquired?. "Did what hurt?" Iwas exasperated with her ,with myself. "When she died" "Of course it did". Isnapped ,misunderstanding,wrapped up in myself, I stode off: A month or so after that when i went to the beach,she wasnt there. Feeling guilty,ashamed,and admitting to myself i missed her. Iwent up to the cottage where they lived after my walk and knocked on the door. A drawn looking young woman with honey colred hair opend the door " Hello" I said ' I'm Robert Peterson. I missed your little girl today ans wondered where she was".? " Oh yes .Mr. Peterson,please come in. Wendy spoke of you so much. I'm afraid i allowed her to bother you. If she was a nuisance please accept my aplogies.' Not at all s'hes a delightful child". Isaid suddenly not realizing i meant it. "Wendy died last week.,Mr. Peterson. She had leukimia. Maybe she didnt tell you." Struck dumb .,Igroped for a chair. Ihad to catch my breath. "She loved this beach,so when she asked to come we couldnt say no. She seemed so much better here and had what she called a lot of happy days here. But the last few weeks ,she declined rapidly..." Her voice falterd."She left something for you,if only i can find it. Could you wait a moment while i look??" Inonned stupidly,my mind racing for something to say to this lovely woman. She handed me a smeared envelope with MR P. on it. in bold letters. Inside was a drawing in bright crayon hues--a yellow beach,a blue sea, and a brown bird. Underneath was a carefully printed: A SANDPIPER TO BRING YOU JOY. Tears welled up in my eyes ,and a heart that had almost forgotten how to love opend wide. I took Wendys mother in my arms. "i,m so sorry,i utterd over and over,and we wept together. The precious little picture is now framed and hangs in my study.. Six words--one for each year of her life--that speak of harmony,courage,and undemanding love... Agift from a child with sea blue eyes and hair the color of sand--who taught me the gift of love. NOTE: This is a true story sent out by Robert Peterson. It happend over 20 years ago and the incident changed his life forever . It serves as a reminder to all of us that we need to take the time to enjoy living and life and each other. Well y'all i know that was a long read but i appreciate everyone who has taken the time to read it. Ijust thought it was a very moving read. Love ,,,Charles,,,Tex....

[meteast chick]

Tex, I openly weeped at this story. What a wonderful message it is.

This is difficult for me to say, but here goes: When I was a child of about 7 or 8 my parents sent me to a well known Chicago hospital for what I can only say was an embarrassing problem, not a medical one. While I was there, they roomed me with a girl my age with leukemia. She was from the city and enamored with the fact that we lived on a farm in the country. Her father came in every day, color blind and we laughed that he could never match his socks. He stayed at the same Ronald McDonald house that my parents stayed in, and over that week we all came to know each other well and I was very fond of this little girl, my new friend. We left and about 6 months later out of nowhere he shows up with her on our farm, says she just wants to play. She has lost her hair and was wearing a handkerchief. (my fingers are trembling typing this). She played for awhile, and they left. I was so happy they came to see me. This was the mindset of a child. Later on, I asked my parents when we could see them next. My mother calmly explained that it was her dying wish to visit her new friend on the farm, something she had never experienced, and she passed on about a month after that visit.

It has been about 20 years and I still carry that pain, the innocence of a child who was loving and giving until the end.

This is my true story.

[texasman6172003]

Hi Met East chick,Wow that is an incredible story you had. I hope the tears you had w'ere over the fond memories you had of your little childhood friend. I thought it was a nicestory to share,but hadnt thought about the different ways it might affect people. I am glad you enjoyed it thought,,Love,,Charles,,,Tex...

[OralBradley]

I'm a crusty old goat who has been inured to almost anything, but meteastchick'c story (and other like) it still leave me in tears.

[Mrs.F]

I had to stop reading in the middle to wipe my eyes to continue on. It's stories like these that really make you realize that WE don't have it bad at all and the little things are just that....little!

I've just spent a whole week with my almost 3 yr. old son. 24/7 everyday. There were many times I was just so fed up with him and ready to haul him off to the grandparents house, but then he will turn to you with those baby blue eyes, blonde hair and tell you something you didn't even know he noticed. Then I reminded that he is a blessing and nothing but a child trying to learn in this world and I am the one he looks up too.

Makes me the happiest mommy around... :bigrin:

Thanks Tex for the story..it was beautiful! And meteast chick..your story is something to always treasure..(the tears are falling now)

Mrs.F :)

[meteast chick]

A little side note to my story. This friend of mine, Jennifer, was sick since she was a toddler, and spent most of her years in the hospital or at home with hospice workers. She didn't have many friends and apparently in the short time that I came to know her, she came to regard me as a good friend.

The message I am sending is this: Don't waste your life, treasure every little bit, because you never know who you'll come across whose life you might affect, or who may change your life.

luv and kisses,
xoxoxoxo
meteast

[oralolder]

truth be known, I never shed very many tears in my youth about anything. not much ever fazed me into tears. I laughed when some others around me cried. however, in my old age, tears seems to come easily now over the smallest things. a sad movie which I once laughed through now bring a few tears to my eyes(whats left of them). experiencies such as these here are very heart warming to an old goat, and surely bring tears to these old eyes. thank you all for them...oralolder

[usedbear1950]

Do bears cry?
Yes we do. I can only think of the movie, "It's A Wonderful Life". When you touch a life you leave a mark. When you touch the life of a child you leave an everlasting mark. Shouldn't the mark we leave be like that of a Sandpiper...Joy.

ur ever luvin
usedbear

[CountryLover]

When I was 17, I had the great good fortune to work as a camp counselor for three summers, with handicapped children. Most of the kids had cystic fibrosis - a death sentence back then. Most kids didn't live beyond 8 or 9 yrs old then, though many go on to live into their 30's now.

Those kids taught me the meaning of pure love and joy....your post this morning brought it back to me. Thanks Texasman.

[texasman6172003]

Hi,Coutry Lover, One thing this e-mail has done has made realize how i love my nieces and my nephew. I love each one of them as if they were my own. Thank you,,,Love Charles,,,Tex...

[cutiepie35]

Wow what a story, I am touched. Thank you for sharing this and all your stories here. As I sit here watching my three sons 8, 5 and 2 watch morning cartoons, I am so thankful that they all are all happy, healthy well adjusted kids, The dishes and pile of laundry can wait, I am spending my time today where it counts.

[codybear3]

Very touching stories indeed...In time, we will leave our pain behind and join all of those who have gone on before us... :paw: :paw:

[coknballiker]

one word: incredible!

[ladydelanie]

Charles,

Thank you so much for sharing this with us. In our daily lives of hustle and bustle, I do hope we all can stop for a moment and bring some joy to someone. We never know what they may be going through in their lives.

A smile, a simple smile can make the day of a person, be it an adult or child. A helping hand at the grocery store to an elderly person. Words of wisdom to a teen. A hug.

When I lived in Ft Worth I worked at a Nusring Agency, we had a 17 yr old girl that had been shot in the head by her boyfriend that she had broken up with.
He than commited suicide thinking that she too was dead, she wasnt.
She was paralyzed from the heck down.
I was the first person to meet her and the family. She was beautiful very bright and very angry. She was bed bound.
Her friends never came to see her anymore.

Her mother was even more angry because the daughter had been forbidden to see this boy and she has snuck out of the house when he called "just to talk" and thats when he drove off and killed himself and in turn destroyed the lives of so many other people.
To make a very long story short, "Rachel" was out patient for 3 yrs. I would go once a week just to visit her. She thought I was a "cool older person" as she would say.....lol......I put make up on her, we listened to music, she asked me how it was to give birth, all the things she was no longer able to asked her mother, a mother that never got over blaming her daughter for the tragic thing that happened to them all.
Rachel died of complications at the age of 20.
I was there at her bedside, I dont ever talk about this. It hurts to the core however, I cannot tell you how thankful I am that I took the time out of my busy week to visit an angel that I learned so much from!!....
I spoke at Rachels funeral, I said "I am Rachels friend, the "Cool older person" that loved her very much!
Thank you Rachel for helping me be the person, the mom, the friend, that I am today. I will never forget you!!

Thank you Charles and everyone here that has shared touching stories that make us remember that kindness is so needed in the world!!

Ladyd :) Now I have met my quota of tears for this upcoming week!

“Kind words are short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless”
Mother Teresa of Calcutta

We can do no great things; only small things with great love.”
Mother Teresa of Calcutta

[Mrs.F]

Oh my, This just makes me so happy with tears in my eyes...(the keyboard is sopping wet now)

We do touch others lives. You never know how you will impact anothers life, whether it a smile, hug or kind words. We all need each other to go on.

Thank you all for the stories...they always make me think, again..that the little things are just that...little. Enjoy what I have...I have been blessed!

:( :) :bigrin:

Mrs.F ;)

[texasman6172003]

Hi Ladyd,That was one great story. Im glad this has brought so many tears of joy,to the ones that have read it. Back in 1974 i came down with scoliosis, which in laymans turn is curvature of the spine. Well the first few days after my surgery i was really feeling down. After all i was only 14 and had never even heard of the thing i had. My mother had found out about a girl in the next room. They wheeled my bed over to her room,which was not an easy deal. Well this girl her name was Robin,was in there ,we chatted for a while and the whole time she smiled. After the visit i realized i was not the only one with my problem. My point of the story is,her smile i think is really what picked me up out of the doldrums. She gave me a photo,that week and i still have it to this day. Ihavent seeen her in years but have not forgotten her because of that day. You are right you never know how a smile may affect someone,,Love,,,Charles,,,Tex...

[meteast chick]

LadyD, that is quite some story. That makes me regret something, and I a person who says I never have regrets. I am not trying to make anyone cry, but hopefully we all can learn something from these stories, whatever you learn that makes you a better person for it.

My close friend Sandy, at age 21, got up to attend to her year old son in the middle of the night. When she didn't return, her husband went to check on her, and she was laying on the floor by the baby's crib. She was not dead, but in a coma. Apparently, the same illness that took John Ritters life stopped Sandy's life cold, but left her pulse. She was in a hospital and then a nursing home for 3 years until they determined that she was, in fact, brain dead. They then disconnected her. I never visited her in the hospital or the nursing home as many of my friends did. I did, however, attend her funeral, and wept only at the 4 year old boy in the receiving line who never got to know his mommy in life. I see him every now and then when I go 'home', along with his father and his new wife and baby, and I'm glad they have moved on. I only hope that through Sandy's friends and family, that this boy, now 8, can know her and what a lively, bubbly, nice, wonderful person she was.

I initiated a collection box for Sandy at my 10 yr reunion last year and we were able to buy her gravestone a lovely floral arrangement. Her presence was sorely missed. It's appalling to me that, having grown up in such a small town that my graduating class had only 31, 1 was dead before our senior year due to drunk driving, and Sandy lessened our count to 30. My brother's class lost someone also due to drunk driving (these incidents were their own faults and thank God no one else was injured). I now live quite a distance from any of my own friends and family, and the thought of Sandy is only part of what makes me tell my children how much I love them throughout the day, every day, and cherish every moment I have with my boys.

Food for thought,
luv and kisses,
meteast

[meteast chick]

Unfortunately even at the age I am, I can tell other true stories, which happened to me, similar to the ones I already have shared. I won't bother you all with any of the other ones, and thank you all for sharing and in turn, letting me share.

meteast