Home  >> Stories  >> The Tale Spinner #2018-44

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IN THIS ISSUE

• Tim Miller writes about finding a care home for his mother
• Stan French reminds me of when he became a subscriber
• Kate Brookfield posts a story about Teddies for Tragedies
• Catherine Nesbitt tells how Olds, Alberta, celebrated Halloween
• Irene Harvalias forwards unseasonal but funny golf jokes
• Sites are suggested by Barbara Wear, Carol Shoemaker, Kate Brookfield, and Tom Telfer

Tim Miller of Texas tells this Heroic Story:

HOMEWARD BOUND

In 1993 my sisters moved my mother to an assisted-living center. Mom was in fairly good health, but taking care of her big house and lawn, and shovelling snowy sidewalks was a bit much for her 69-year-old body.

After weeks of research, my sisters found the perfect place, just a few miles from mom´s home. "The Point" was set up like a resort hotel, with a common dining area, many activity rooms, a gym, walking trails, etc. Great effort had been taken to ensure it didn´t look like a nursing home.

The top floor was for fully functional retirees down-sizing from their present homes. The middle floor was for people needing occasional assistance, and the lower floor had hospital beds in apartments with full-time nursing care. People could move in, then obtain different levels of assistance as needed, without leaving the familiar setting of home and friends. They also allowed small pets, with pet-walking assistance available.

My mother visited different places with my sisters, and liked this one best. However, despite *wanting* to move, she worried about the moving ordeal, and decided to wait another year. We knew she needed to move sooner, though, because she was experiencing ever more frequent asthma attacks requiring lengthier hospital stays.

During one such hospital visit my sisters decided to act. I will be forever grateful to my two sisters, who saw our mother´s need for enhanced safety and support in her life, and did what needed to be done. Moreover, they acted with incredible style and grace to help our mother through the difficult transition from independent to assisted living.

While my mother recovered in the hospital, my sisters moved her living room, dining room, kitchen, and two bedrooms into a vacant apartment at The Point. They took photographs of every wall and piece of furniture so that after they reassembled her rooms in the new apartment, they could put everything on the walls and in the curio cabinets exactly how mother had it. Even the kitchen drawers and cupboards were put back as they were, with coupons, utensils, and a half-eaten bag of cookies on the counter.

Coincidentally, this occurred days before my birthday. My mother had asked me to fly home for my birthday, and my reservations were made. I flew in anyway, assuring my mother that I would stay until she was well enough to leave the hospital.

When my sisters and I picked up my mother from the hospital, we drove to The Point to "show Tim how nice the apartments are." I hadn´t seen it, so this seemed reasonable. However, when we opened the door to a supposedly vacant apartment, my mother found her home faithfully re-created inside.

As she stood there slack-jawed, taking in the moment, I habitually stepped into the kitchen and helped myself to some cookies and a glass of milk.

All my mother could do was stand there, cry, and say, "Oh my! I´m home. I´m already home!"

E-mail subscriptions to HeroicStories are free. Sign up here: HeroicStories.org.

CORRESPONDENCE

Stan French writes: I think about you often, and I tell my friends you were the first person to help me get onto the internet. I learned about the Tale Spinner 18 months after it started when I was tossing some CARP newspapers. I came across a letter to the editor requesting e-mail pals, similar to pen pals, and I sent a letter to you and I got a letter back telling me about how you got started because of the responses to that edition of CARP.

My first connections were at a local library that had computers. I lived in East York, but the nearest library with computers was in Victoria Village, North York, a short drive.

I had a couple of computers - one was a clone of an early Apple, the other was a DOS computer that was out of date where Emily worked. it had an ancient modem that had to be replaced with a newer model from Radio Shack, and that took a while.

Our eldest son, Paul, is here to take me so he can do the shopping, I can visit the library and pay the Metro bill when he is finished, so I´ll send this instead of just planning to do it.

Best wishes, Stan

ED. NOTE: Thank you for your letter, Stan! It reminds me of when the Spinner was just starting, nearly 24 years ago. About 40 people answered my request for e-mail friends, and I realized I couldn´t correspond with all of them, so I started a newsletter, which later became the Tale Spinner. Those early correspondents supported my efforts with their contributions, and many of them still subscribe - including you.

No-one could ask for better e-mail friends, and I am fortunate to have many of the original respondents and those who have joined us since. Thank you all!

Kate Brookfield forwards this story of

TEDDIES FOR TRAGEDIES

About 20 years ago, we had a speaker come to talk at our Rotary Club about the Teddies for Tragedies project. She had recently visited Scotland, where a relative was knitting 10-inch teddies for children in need. She was inspired by the idea, and the stories of how children who had little to claim as their own cherished the gifts of little teddies in their own beautifully-made drawstring bags. They would use the bag to stow away other little precious items.

The speaker, Liz McCrindle, visited many groups in Guelph and the surrounding area, distributing the pattern and inviting knitters and sewers to make the teddies and their bags. At first, she hosted a tea party in her own home to collect the teddies and treat the knitters, but the project became so popular, she had to ask her local church to help by providing a space to collect the hundreds of teddies.

Over the years sacks and sacks of teddies have gone around the world to bring comfort and hope to children in need of something to cuddle and love.

On the collection day, as well as a delicious tea provided by the volunteers of Duff´s Presbyterian Church, a speaker gives the knitters a presentation on places where the teddies have been sent.

This year, over 600 teddies were collected from knitters in Guelph, Puslinch, and surrounding areas, and some sent by mail from Saskatchewan and Halifax.

Kate´s contribution of Teddies this year

The presentation was given by John and Bea Henderson, who volunteer in the Dominican Republic with Servant´s Heart Ministries and are members of Norval Presbyterian Church. They gave an excellent illustrated talk. Their photos showed the appalling living conditions for Haitian workers who travel to the Domincans for work, but have no status as citizens. These workers were living in unsanitary squalor. Children born in these appalling conditions must be registered in Haiti. Volunteers for The Servant´s Heart Ministries have built decent living conditions for these people including hospitals, and schools. For more on their work you can visit their web site at http://www.servantsheartdr.org/

Anyone interested in knitting Teddies for this worthwhile project can contact Wendy McDonald at Duff´s Church, 519-763-1163. A web search will show other places who collect the teddies. I know there is one in the Ottawa area. Or anyone can start their own group as Liz did in Guelph years ago.

Catherine Nesbitt tells how Olds, Alberta, celebrated

HALLOWEEN

The first Annual Pumpkin Smash was held on Oct. 13th from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. About 70 people, mostly children, participated. For $10 each, they could buy a pumpkin, ride up very high on the ladder truck provided by the Olds Fire Department, and try to drop their pumpkin onto a bull´s-eye target painted on a tarp on the parking lot. Not all pumpkins hit the centre target, but everyone enjoyed the loud splat!

The weather was cold; high for the day was 3C and the low was -3.4. Music by the Smashing Pumpkins was played during the event. Money raised was used for the Halloween Howl party organized by the community for local children.

On Oct. 27, for the second year in a row, Halloween Howl, the annual shopping promotion in Uptowne Olds, had a Harry Potter theme. As part of that theme, 50th Avenue became Diagon Alley, the area in the famous children´s book series where young witches and wizards obtained all the things they´d need in Hogwart´s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., children went trick-or-treating at participating stores and other establishments in Uptowne. There were Harry Potter-themed games, activities, and other attractions for children and their parents. And like last year, people went on rides on the Hogwart´s Express. Quidditch was played in the park the whole afternoon. This year, there were more Harry Potter-themed activities, including spell casting and opportunities for people to have their photos taken with cardboard cutouts from the series. A food truck served up spooky foods and treats. Butter beer was also for sale again.

ED. NOTE: Halloween is over now, of course, but it sounds as if Olds celebrated it in style. I hope everyone enjoyed Halloween as much as they did in Olds.

Irene Harvalias shares these

GOLF STORIES

A recent study found that the average golfer walks about 900 miles a year. Another study found golfers drink, on average, 22 gallons of alcohol a year, which means, on average, golfers get about 41 miles to the gallon. Kind of makes you proud. I almost feel like a hybrid.

~~~~~~

A husband and wife are on the 9th green when suddenly she collapses from a heart attack. "Help me, dear," she groans to her husband.

The husband calls 911 on his cell phone, talks for a few minutes, picks up his putter, and lines up his putt.

His wife raises her head off the green and stares at him. "I´m dying here and you´re putting."

"Don´t worry, dear," says the husband calmly, "they found a doctor on the second hole and he´s coming to help you."

"Well, how long will it take for him to get here?" she asks feebly.

"No time at all," says her husband. "Everybody´s already agreed to let him play through."

~~~~~~

A young man and a priest are playing together. At a short par-3 the priest asks, "What are you going to use on this hole, my son?"

The young man says, "An 8-iron, father. How about you?"

The priest says, "I´m going to hit a soft seven and pray."

The young man hits his 8-iron and puts the ball on the green. The priest tops his 7-iron and dribbles the ball out a few yards.

The young man says, "I don´t know about you, father, but in my church, when we pray, we keep our heads down."

~~~~~~

Police are called to an apartment and find a woman holding a bloody 3-iron standing over a lifeless man.

The detective asks, "Ma´am, is that your husband?"

"Yes," says the woman.

"Did you hit him with that golf club?"

"Yes, yes, I did." The woman begins to sob, drops the club and puts her hands on her face.

"How many times did you hit him?"

"I don´t know - put me down for a five."

~~~~~~

A golfer teed up his ball on the first tee, took a mighty swing and hit his ball into a clump of trees. He found his ball and saw an opening between two trees he thought he could hit through.

Taking out his 3-wood, he took a mighty swing. The ball hit a tree, bounced back, hit him in the forehead and killed him.

As he approached the gates of Heaven, St. Peter asked, "Are you a good golfer?"

The man replied: "Got here in two, didn´t I?

~~~~~~

The bride was escorted down the aisle and when she reached the altar, the groom was standing there with his golf bag and clubs at his side.

She said: "What are your golf clubs doing here?"

He looked her right in the eye and said, "This isn´t going to take all day, is it?"

SUGGESTED SITES

Barbara Wear forwards this link to a calendar put out by the Vancouver Police Department featuring their K-9 dogs and their handlers:

Carol Shoemaker shares a post on Facebook:

Kate Brookfield posted this video to Facebook about a girl trying to teach her father gymnastics:

Tom Telfer shares this Animalkind Stories´ video of people flying with geese:

Mandy Muden brings her bag of magic tricks to the semi-finals of Britain´s Got Talent:

In this TED talk, Dr. Medha Tadpatrikar explains how she and her associates turn plastic back to fuel:

From the Good News Network, here is the story of a woman dialing a wrong number, and being stunned when a gourmet sandwich restaurant sent a driver to pick up her sick brother and take him to a hospital:

A helicopter triggers emotional scenes at a wheelchair tennis match in Sydney:

From the Tyee, here is an article on self defence for women, and comments on the article. Personally, I think this subject should be taught in high schools: