| 8/6/2009 3:42:51 PM |
A Gift To Me From A Friend Who Wanted to Share With All |
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cactusbaby
Fredonia, TX
age: 73
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This person is very active in veteran's groups and in the support of our troops. The couple are instrumental in a very respectful escort of fallen heroes.
Enjoy this. Read it slowly and then, think.
Grandma,
some ninety plus years, sat> feebly on the patio
bench.
She didn't move, just sat with her head
down staring at her hands.
When
I sat down beside her she
didn't acknowledge my
presence and the longer I sat I
wondered if she was
OK.
Finally,
not really wanting to disturb
her but wanting to
check on her at the same time,
I asked her if she
was OK. She raised her head and
looked at me and
smiled. 'Yes, I'm fine,
thank you for asking,' she
said in a clear voice strong.
'I
didn't mean to disturb you,
grandma, but you were
just sitting here staring at
your hands and I wanted
to make sure you were OK,'
I explained to her.
'Have
you ever looked at your
hands,' she asked. 'I mean
really looked at your
hands?'
I slowly opened my hands and
stared down at them. I
turned them over, palms up and
then palms down. No,
I guess I had never really
looked at my hands as I
tried to figure out the point she was making..
Grandma
smiled and related this story:
'Stop and think for a moment about
the hands you have, how
they have served you well
throughout your years.
These hands, though wrinkled
shriveled and weak have
been the tools I have used all
my life to reach out and grab and embrace life.
'They braced and caught my fall when as a toddler I
crashed upon the floor.
They put food in my mouth andclothes on my back As a child, my mother taught me to fold them in prayer. They tied my shoes and pulled on my boots. They held
my husband and wiped my tears when he went off to
war.
'They
have been dirty, scraped and raw , swollen and bent.
They were uneasy and clumsy when I tried to hold my
newborn son. Decorated with my wedding band they
showed the world that I was married and loved
someone special.
They wrote my letters to him andtrembled and shook when I buried my parents and spouse.
'They have held my children and grandchildren, consoled
neighbors, and shook in fists of anger when I didn't
understand.
They have covered my face, combed my hair, and washed and cleansed the rest of my body.
They have been sticky and wet, bent and broken, dried and raw. And to this day when not much of anything
else of me works real well these hands hold me up,
lay me down, and again continue to fold in prayer.
'These hands are the mark of where I've been and the
ruggedness of life.
But more importantly it will be these hands that God
will reach out and take when he leads me home. And
with my hands He will lift meto His side and there
I will use these hands to touch
the face of Christ.'
I will never look at my hands the same again. But I
remember God reached out and took my grandma's hand and led her home.
When my hands are hurt or sore or when I stroke the face of my children and husband I think of grandma. I
know she has been stroked and
caressed and held by the hands of God.
I, too, want to touch the face ofGod and feel His
hands upon my face.
Passing this on to anyone you
consider a friend will blessyou both.
Passing this on to one not yet considered a friend is something Christ would do.. --
Author
Unknown
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| 8/6/2009 4:18:53 PM |
A Gift To Me From A Friend Who Wanted to Share With All |
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altje
Kernersville, NC
age: 69 online now!
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Thank you, Cactus. 
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| 8/6/2009 4:30:18 PM |
A Gift To Me From A Friend Who Wanted to Share With All |
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10snut
Haughton, LA
age: 62
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beautiful - thanks
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| 8/6/2009 5:21:40 PM |
A Gift To Me From A Friend Who Wanted to Share With All |
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nenebubbles
Naperville, IL
age: 68
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Very lovely, Thank your friend!
I can still picture my mother's hands and feel their touch sometimes. I guess I will look at my wrinkled and worn hands with more consideration now.
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| 8/7/2009 5:30:57 AM |
A Gift To Me From A Friend Who Wanted to Share With All |
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sharsea
Gulfport, MS
age: 64
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A memory which is priceless that I took for granted as a child with Grand Ma's loving touch...but sterness when needed. A large family unit with much love for family.
In society of following jobs, so many of our children did not have this daily unity. Frankly our children today seem to have less compassion than our age group for the love of our elderly.
Thank you Cactus for sharing and bringing back lovely thoughts.
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| 8/7/2009 6:39:01 AM |
A Gift To Me From A Friend Who Wanted to Share With All |
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cactusbaby
Fredonia, TX
age: 73
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I should have said that Judge and Angel sent this to me.
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| 8/7/2009 1:28:10 PM |
A Gift To Me From A Friend Who Wanted to Share With All |
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gentlebear1949
Wooster, OH
age: 59
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Wow.....Reading that and thinking about my mother's tired,wrinkeled old hands,brought out the tissue box once again......Thanks for sharing.....
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| 8/7/2009 1:41:32 PM |
A Gift To Me From A Friend Who Wanted to Share With All |
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aliveankickinto
Tucson, AZ
age: 78
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Thank you, You gave me something to think about.
I'll see my wrinkly old hands, in a new way.
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| 8/7/2009 3:50:30 PM |
A Gift To Me From A Friend Who Wanted to Share With All |
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countrygal0924
Lampe, MO
age: 61
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thank you cactus for posting this, setting here reading remembering my Grandmother folding her hands many times in prayer, and remembering the look of her hands, made tears come to my eyes. I miss her so much
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| 8/8/2009 5:28:13 AM |
A Gift To Me From A Friend Who Wanted to Share With All |
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newlady2
Goldsboro, NC
age: 72
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My Thanks Cactus ..
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| 8/8/2009 7:59:18 AM |
A Gift To Me From A Friend Who Wanted to Share With All |
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sassy_lassy
Kingston, TN
age: 67
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saying to angel and judge, and to all the friends here. thanks again for posting this for all to be reminded...
edited for typo
[Edited 8/8/2009 8:00:17 AM PST]
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| 8/10/2009 10:01:05 AM |
A Gift To Me From A Friend Who Wanted to Share With All |
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jer555
Huntley, IL
age: 81
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I remember my mother's hands punching that dough to make bread, plus the aroma of it baking...
Thanks for a fond memory
[Edited 8/10/2009 10:03:57 AM PST]
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| 8/10/2009 10:13:57 AM |
A Gift To Me From A Friend Who Wanted to Share With All |
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cactusbaby
Fredonia, TX
age: 73
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It is a beautiful thing, but, unfortunately for me, when I finally noticed my mother's workworn hands, they were folded and unmoving in her caaket.
I am now proud to look at my hands and see how much like my mother's and grandmother's they look. those wrinkled , workworn hands are badges of honor.
[Edited 8/10/2009 10:14:51 AM PST]
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| 8/10/2009 10:19:42 AM |
A Gift To Me From A Friend Who Wanted to Share With All |
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candyapplestar
Greeley, CO
age: 62
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I don't have alot of memories of my mothers hands as a young child. I was raised by my father. I remember my grandmas hands. She had such severe arthritis and her fingers were bent and crooked. She would sit with a hanky and twist it around her fingers. I don't know if it was a way for her to deal with the pain or if it helped the pain.
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| 8/13/2009 5:40:21 AM |
A Gift To Me From A Friend Who Wanted to Share With All |
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thomast444
Alma, AR
age: 66
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I just wanted you to no that this was one of the most well written notes i have ever read, very sincere and from the heart, my grandparents i never really knew, my mother died when i was 11 years of age, i can remember her rough hands giving me baths over 55 years ago, this has truly moved me, truly God will be with her and thank you so very much for sharing this with us. Tom
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| 8/19/2009 11:35:17 AM |
A Gift To Me From A Friend Who Wanted to Share With All |
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betterjv1
Pittsburgh, PA
age: 63
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No Thanks necessary as this moved us as well . I will however pass the positive effects of this along to the GF who sent it to me as it will make her very happy 
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| 8/19/2009 12:34:05 PM |
A Gift To Me From A Friend Who Wanted to Share With All |
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spinningtop
Lancaster, PA
age: 69
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......thanks a mil...That poem made me go get my Gran's picture..she has her hands folded neatly in her lap, like the lady she was...She was the strongest female, I have known & passed many good things to me...It eases my heart to think - "she is resting in Gods hands now"....Thanks for that beautiful poem.....
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| 8/19/2009 4:01:17 PM |
A Gift To Me From A Friend Who Wanted to Share With All |
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bones01
Morehead City, NC
age: 60
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OK,OK, another wet hanky here.....
Thanks for sharing. I guess I may just look at folks hands a little differently from now on.
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