by LDH 15 Replies latest jw friends
So far here no one has mentioned 'conversational style' as a reason to make an apology
I did! And I think you did too...
I was recently talking to a friend, an ex-admin from Witnet, who said that they felt I was 'owed' an apology because of an offensive remark made on this board.
mommy
Hey Mommy,
But you missed my remark that I didn't care about that......
I didn't give it too much credence, since from time to time we all say things we shouldn't, but it did start a dialogue between us about things we would apologise for if we could.
I was referring to 'things'-maybe I should've been a little more clear!
I received a note from a friend in Africa this morning, a brother. He told me that a rather lonely brother whom he never took the time to get to know died in his bed by the sea, all alone.
He dredged sand from the sea, that was his job. he lived alone by the sea with no wife and no kids.
It kind of jogged my memory and I shared this true story with him, and so I will share it with you, and I hope you appreciate the meaning as much as I do. I learned a lot.
When my sister and I were reg pio, there was an elderly bro who was also a reg pio. Truthfully, he was annoying and more than a little wierd. He was there at the Hall every day, and some days we just dreaded seeing him. Every day you would have to listen to his health problems for HOURS and he would always appoint himself 'car captain.' So you were like a captive audience.
Well he went in the hospital, and quite frankly, all of us young people were glad to have a break from him! You see, we were very close as a group, but we were so young and he was so---old!
Time passed, a lot of time. Maybe a month, and we still hadn't been to see him. We were coming up with a million reasons why we couldn't get to the hospital to see him. His wife asked us at every meeting why we hadn't been to see him, he really loved my sister and I. Even worse, he had both legs amputated. Then, we felt too guilty to go see him because we hadn't been up until that point!
One day, I went to the Hallmark card store. I spent $15 on a HUGE get well card. Then I took it home and spent the next 4 hours cutting out pictures and pasting them on. I cut out individual letters from the newpaper and glued it on the card in a kind of ransom note fashion. My dad and sister noticed what I was doing and the three of us worked on it the rest of the day. We mailed it the next day, but not before we took a picture of it. It was so funny! really a work of art!
When he received the card, the nurses on his ward had to call us to tell us he received it because he was laughing so hard he couldn't talk! Word spread, and doctors and nurses from every floor came to see The Card. No one could believe the hours of work that went into this thing! He was proud to tell them his friends made it for him because they couldn't make it to visit! (We lived 5 minutes away)
He was the hit of the hospital, and he loved every minute of it!
His wife brought it to the hall and displayed it on the literature counter after the meeting.
I never made it to see him, and he died about a week later.
Sorry I didn't go visit you Paul. Just a little caught up in being a teenager.
lisa,
your story brought tears to my eyes. thank you for sharing.
love
harmony
no prob, harmony. I was in a wierd mood when I got my friend's email and it reminded me of my own story....
Glad you read it.
Hey I just thought of another one...But this one is kind of funny in that it served me right!
When I was a soph. in HS I was in love with Steve, who had the fasted lacrosse throw on record at that time. Total jock, my kind of guy. I didn't really know him that well but would plant myself near him whenever I could....
One day at a pep rally, I was sitting in front of him...and this mentally retarded kid walked right up past me and stepped directly on my hand with his sneakers. Of course, Steve said, Oh my god are you all right?" To which I answered something to the effect of, 'Yeah, stupid retard!'
Totally out of character for me considering I volunteered in the resource room, but hey, I was trying to impress the school jock....
He said, "I'm sorry he stepped on your hand. That's my brother."
OMG talk about feeling like a heel.....And he never spoke to me again...LOL
Sorry, Steve I didn't mean to make fun of Jeffrey.
