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~ Welcome to Heartwarmers ~
http://www.heartwarmers.com
The best thing to happen to mornings since the Sun!

Your morning thought for the day:
The things that we have in common are what
bring us together, but our ability to embrace and
find joy in our differences is what keeps us together.
-- Joe Walker


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EMBRACING OUR DIFFERENCES
by Joseph Walker

Everybody is talking about the money thing these days.
And with good reason. There's all kinds of crazy stuff going on.
You know... that really big company that went bankrupt or something. And that other big company that... sort of... you know... bought out another big company.
And then there's Fannie Mae, who is not one of the "Beverly Hillbillies" but who evidently has more to do with someone named Freddie Mac than she does with Jethro Bodine. And then there's Hurricane Ike, which... well, I'm not exactly sure what Hurricane Ike has to do with the whole money discussion, but it was devastating and I'm sure it did... you know... devastating stuff.
Economically as well as meteorologically.
OK, so I'm faking it here. The minute you start talking numbers and dollar signs, my eyes glaze over and I mentally retreat to my happy place. I won't say exactly where my happy place is, but whenever I go there I end up humming "It's a Small World" the rest of the day.
And I've been humming "It's a Small World" a LOT recently.
That's why I'm assuming there's heavy-duty financial stuff going on in the world, which probably explains why I paid more for a gallon of gasoline yesterday than I used to pay to fill up my Volkswagen back in the day.
Or maybe it doesn't explain it. Like I said, I'm not fluent in Econese.
Thankfully, I don't have to be. Years ago I met someone who is really savvy with regards to money and numbers and stuff like that, and I married her. Anita tells me everything I need to know about money, which generally is, "Don't spend it." Or if I do, "Make sure to give me the receipt." She's keeping up with all this recent money stuff. It actually seems to interest her. She even knows how to pronounce and spell Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's last name.
The other day she tried to explain the whole Fannie/Freddie/Bernanke scenario to me. According to observers, I went from mildly interested to full glaze-over so fast that Usain Bolt is calling and asking for tips. Thankfully, Anita has learned to recognize the glaze, and to accept it as part of the package she got when she married me.
For better or for worse.
For richer, for poorer.
'Til debt do we part.
I've been thinking about this today because... well, everyone is talking about the money thing -- whatever it may actually be. And also because I heard about a young friend, barely a newlywed, whose marriage is struggling over the money thing. And the communication thing. And especially the difference thing. All those frighteningly, maddeningly wonderful "things" that make marriage so challenging, and so sweet.
Anyone who has been married for any length of time can appreciate the difficulty of bringing together two very different lives, and from them making one shared life. As a result, we probably all have our own thoughts and ideas about what it takes to build and maintain a successful marriage. Heaven knows I do. But somewhere on every list of marriage tips and recommendations should be this foundational truth -- the things that we have in common are what bring us together, but our ability to embrace and find joy in our differences is what keeps us together.
Even with the money thing.
Maybe ESPECIALLY with the money thing.

-- Joseph Walker

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Joe is a Heartwarmer Gem and columnist from Utah.
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DEEP DOWN

Several years ago at the Special Olympics, nine contestants, all physically or mentally disabled, assembled at the starting line for the 100-yard dash.
At the gun, they all started out, not exactly in a dash, but with a relish to run the race to the finish and win.
All, that is, except one little boy who stumbled on the asphalt, tumbled over a couple of times, and began to cry.
The other eight heard the boy cry. They slowed down and looked back. Then they all turned around and went back -- every one of them.
One girl with Down's Syndrome bent down and kissed him and said, "This will make it better." Then all nine linked arms and walked together to the finish line. Everyone in the stadium stood and the cheering went on for several minutes.
People who were there are still telling the story. Why? Because deep down we know this one thing: What matters in this life is more than winning for ourselves. What matters in this life is helping others win -- even if it means slowing down and changing our course.

HEART OF A LION

~ Welcome to Petwarmers ~
http://www.petwarmers.com

It took a blind cat to open everyone's eyes.
Purr was a little cat, but she had a heart of a lion. You'll enjoy today's story from Susan.

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HEART OF A LION
by Susan Dart

Years ago before the first Gulf war we moved to the desert Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on military assignment.
We had two small children, a dog, and a cat. As we stepped from the airport into the stifling desert heat, we made a bedraggled little party, exhausted from our long trip. We had no idea what lay in store for us, or how much our lives would change over the next two years.
Just two days later, as we were settling into our apartment at the military headquarters, we were visited by a kind woman from the housing office who noticed that we had pets. She immediately told us about a litter of kittens that desperately needed homes.
Abandoned by their feral mother, they were barely surviving on dog food they scrounged from local residents. Perhaps it was the jet lag or some other malady, but we agreed to see the kittens and that very day Purr came into our lives.
Little more than a piece of Calico fur, the starving kitten stole our hearts. She was tiny and weak and her eyes were infected, but we loved her from the start. As we nursed her back to health, she quickly became a member of our family.
We named her Priscilla after a friend, but our son was too little to pronounce it, so she became Purr for the rest of her life.
As her health improved she grew and thrived but living with her quickly became a challenge. She seemed unusually accident prone and leapt from one disaster to another, frequently falling as she tried to jump to higher spots. The shatter of breakable items became a common sound as she knocked over things in her path.
Purr grew a luxurious long-haired Calico coat. Our children adored her and she almost never let them out of her sight. She tolerated being pushed in a doll stroller, slept with them at night, and woke them in the morning for school. She also seemed to be less clumsy than before and rarely missed when she jumped from the floor to a high perch to look out the window.
We were able to move to a lovely house in the suburbs and life settled into a peaceful routine as we began our second year in Saudi Arabia, never suspecting it would all soon change.
Later that summer, Iraq invaded Kuwait and we were plunged into months of fear and uncertainty as the first Gulf war evolved around us. Late one January night we awoke to the sound of missiles exploding in the sky over the city. The war had started and the next few months would be some of the most challenging we had ever faced.
We spent many nights sitting in the hall wearing gas masks as sirens wailed and missiles roared over our home. We all slept in one room in the most protected part of the house wondering when the next attack would be.
And through it all, our little desert cat was there.
She comforted the children and entertained them with her antics. She never left their sides and they were less afraid.
The following summer we moved back to Texas and brought Purr with us. We took her to our new vet and told him her story. He examined her and then told us that she was almost completely blind. The blood vessels in the back of her eyes had never developed, most likely from the poor diet she had eaten as a newborn kitten. She had somehow learned to cope and managed well.
She had gone from a clumsy kitten to a graceful adult cat and a dear member of our family.
I often think of those days when we lived under the cloud of war and how the experience forever changed our lives. We would never take our peace and freedom or safety for granted again.
And I remember the little blind kitten that watched over us and helped us through -- a little desert cat with the heart of a lion named Purr.

-- Susan Dart

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Susan says, "I live in San Antonio, TX. We settled here after my husband spent 15 years in the Air Force. I have two grown-up children and a sewing business. I have had pets my entire life. I currently have 5 house cats and a parakeet."
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