Dear Robert..Bless You..I have been quite ill and wait to read your latest details as I would wait for a letter from a dear friend. My heart jumps for joy at each new turn of events. Today I had to write as I have two Grandsons living in my home..we have been together for the fifteen years of the first born Robert Christian and 13 of the second born Dylan Matthew. When you spoke of the young people today I just had to write and tell you of my boys and their little friends. Your statement was proof to me that ALL these youth are looking for a place to lend a helping hand they just need to be called. I have had event after event since becoming ill of the goodness and loving kindness of these children daily some beautiful surprise for Grandmother..I had become the "neighborhood Gramma" as I was the only adult at home after school in a large neighborhood full of families. I must admit as time was progressing in my illness I knew not I had and my strength and energies were waning I had my days of prayer and sheer grit!!! I would get them all where they needed to be and taken care of.. Baseball band practice piano a dining table filled each day with treats and sharpened pencils and the older ones helping the littler ones and a section for the ESL (English Second Language) in the living room for our Hispanic and Iraqi kindergartners and first graders..teaching their numbers and letters..it was a real "Hoot a nanny" each day..I loved each day and looked forward to the next..now these guys have moved on some to other neighborhoods and some to the suburbs and every now and again my phone rings and it is a family wanting to bring the kids to play for a day..during the spring I was so ill and kept thinking about how badly I wanted to get a small garden in..one Fri, the phone rang and it was two of my favorites that have moved to Allen, TX..far north of Dallas..they wanted to know if I could use a hand for the weekend to get my garden in.. so my prayers are still being answered and here they came and you should have seen the group of friends in the yard and the end was the most beautiful little garden spot and all of the beds turned up for me..none of which I could have managed myself..we conversed through my bedroom window which faces the back yard.. about what was planted where and had not come up as yet so they did not dig up anything ..They were back last Sat. to spend the day of my Christians 15th birthday and parents in tow telling me how they had come home and gone to work in their back yard and planted a garden of their own.. I truly believe in the goodness of these children..there have been a few I have had to weed out..I just could not take on any "problem children" too may good ones wanting to do the right thing..so if they wanted to come to 'Gramma's house" they had to have regular hair ,no purple hair, tattoos, body piercings etc and language approiate for Grandmothers ears.. I would tell all of them I was raised by Grandparents born in 1891 so I had a really old fashioned way of seeing the world and was not the one to change..do not come to visit me with purple hair!! so far so good.. The key to this is to let them know what needs to be done and sit back and watch each of them has their own talents one is the eyes of the garden I get him to tell me where to place a plant tree or statue, another the work horse doing all the digging, another asks all the questions never stops wanting to know about everything..but to be sure they all know how to take care of a garden and yard organically and not to bother any "pests" that God did not make any pests each has a job to do and leave them alone..we are the only home in the neighborhood that has wasp nests and it has been a treat to watch the kids watch the wasp nests grow. That had worked until last year one flew in an opened screen in my room and sat down on my blue recliner just before I did.. I paid the price for that lesson and allowed the oldest to move the nest by the window before there was any activity in the spring. I do think these children are looking for a place to feel good about them selves and learn about the world all we have to do as adults is provide that environment and answer questions make cookies and Kool aid.. and lots of hugs and caring band aids and iodine!!yes ,I still use it!! 98cents vs $4.98 for some cream of unknown ingredients and results. Thank You for sharing. Beverly in Texas --- "Robert L. Webb" <bwebb9@juno.com> wrote: > Sat. evening, June 24th, 2006. > As of today I have repaired three broken stones with > mastico epoxy and the ones I had repaired before > seem to be holding fine. They look nice standing > straight and tall. Also set two stones on their > bases with stack mix mortar. Found something "new" > today again - another base underground with the > bottom part of the stone still in the recess - but > didn't find the top of the stone yet. Found part of > another stone, also underground, flush against the > north edge of this base. It definitely is not the > stone which was broken off. It resembles two other > infant stones found earlier, very close by. Haven't > made much progress since I last wrote till today, > due to being sick with bronchial trouble the past > week or ten days, so haven't mowed for awhile. > Really appreciated hearing from a local young person > this week who is interested in helping, and wanting > to learn. Some of the nicest young people in the > world, have come in, or visited us, recently. Makes > us very proud. > Best wishes, to you all, > Robert > > > > ==== ILHANCOC Mailing List ==== > List owner Shawnnee Bolt Ramey > shawnnee@jrsenterprizes.com > > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com