Home  >> Stories  >> The Tale Spinner #2017-39

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IN THIS ISSUE

• In Heroic Stories, Jennifer Robinson writes about the Chemo Angels
• Jean Sterling comments on obscure three-letter words
• Don Henderson forwards complaints made by travellers
• Catherine Nesbitt writes about Facebook
• Shirley Conlon sends some really good news
• Carol Hansen claims that old age is a gift
• Sites are suggested by Catherine Nesbitt and Tom Telfer

In Heroic Stories, Jennifer Robinson of Texas writes about volunteering with the

CHEMO ANGELS

A few years ago, everything was going well for my husband and me. We had moved back to Houston, my husband and I had new jobs, we bought our first house, and I was pregnant with our first child. Life was so full of happiness that I just had to share it with others. I started looking for a volunteering opportunity that I could continue after my baby was born.

By chance, I learned about Chemo Angels. It´s a non-profit volunteer organization that matches cancer patients with "angels" who provide emotional support during chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, and other cancer therapies. Laura Armstrong, who lost her father to pancreatic cancer and started corresponding with other cancer patients she knew, had founded the group. I joined with enthusiasm.

I became a Chemo Angel in May 2001, and volunteered to be matched with a person going through cancer treatments, offering support through the mail. I sent a letter or a package at least twice a week to my buddy in hopes of lifting her spirits. This continued until she was declared in remission in October 2001.

Instead of requesting a new buddy right away, I asked Laura if I could wait a month, since my baby was due in a few days. She replied it was not a problem, just let her know when I was ready to begin "angeling" again. I was disappointed not to get right back into action, but I knew I would need time to adjust to being a parent.

A week after I asked Laura for some time off, I began to get mail from other Chemo Angels in the USA and other countries, wishing me good luck with my son. Some sent cards, some sent gifts, but all sent their love and support. They had perfect timing. I was in my ninth month and getting uncomfortable. Sometimes it seemed the pregnancy would never end.

I was overwhelmed with gratitude. My fellow angels lifted me up when I was feeling literally weighed down. They gave me the perfect baby gift: a happy attitude. They warmed my heart, and allowed me to see how our buddies might feel when they get our cards and packages. It was a wonderful feeling.

Even my buddy - the woman I was assigned to help - gave me support. Close to my age, she was fighting breast cancer and caring for her small son. While I offered comfort during her cancer treatments, she gave me pregnancy advice and seemed to feel my joy in the pregnancy as if it were her own.

Today I am still a Chemo Angel and so thankful to be part of such a loving group. I was overwhelmed with gratitude towards my fellow angels. Me! I´m just one person in the world, but they took time out of their day to show me that they care.

ED. NOTE: To comment on this story, or to get your own free subscription to this site, click on

CORRESPONDENCE

Jean Sterling comments on the list of obscure three-letter words in last week´s Spinner:

ort - scrap of food; morsel qat - leaves chewed or brewed in tea as a stimulant saw - saying or proverb

I recognize these from crossword puzzles. I don´t know if I could get away with them in Scrabble.

ED. NOTE: Indeed you can. I recognize the three words listed above, and they have recently added 5000 new words that are acceptable in the game. Many of them are technical words related to computers and other inventions, while others seem to be adopted from other languages or slang.

Don Henderson forwards these

COMPLAINTS RECEIVED BY A TRAVEL COMPANY FROM DISSATISFIED CUSTOMERS

1. "On my holiday to Goa in India, I was disgusted to find that almost every restaurant served curry. I don´t like spicy food."

2. "They should not allow topless sunbathing on the beach. It was very distracting for my husband, who just wanted to relax."

3. "We went on holiday to Spain and had a problem with the taxi drivers as they were all Spanish."

4. "We booked an excursion to a water park but no-one told us we had to bring our own swimsuits and towels. We assumed it would be included in the price."

5. "The beach was too sandy. We had to clean everything when we returned to our room."

6. "We found the sand was not like the sand in the brochure. Your brochure shows the sand as white but it was more yellow."

7. "It´s lazy of the local shopkeepers to siesta in the afternoons. I often needed to buy things during ´siesta´ time - this should be banned."

8. "No-one told us there would be fish in the water. The children were scared."

9. "Although the brochure said that there was a fully-equipped kitchen, there was no egg-slicer in the drawers."

10. "I think it should be explained in the brochure that the local convenience store does not sell proper biscuits like custard creams or ginger nuts."

11. "The roads were uneven and bumpy, so we could not read the local guide book during the bus ride to the resort. Because of this, we were unaware of many things that would have made our holiday more fun."

12. "It took us nine hours to fly home from Jamaica to England. It took the Americans only three hours to get home. This seems unfair."

13. "I compared the size of our one-bedroom suite to our friends´ three-bedroom and ours was significantly smaller."

14. "The brochure stated: ´No hairdressers at the resort.´ We´re trainee hairdressers and we think they knew and made us wait longer for service."

15. "When we were in Spain, there were too many Spanish people there. The receptionist spoke Spanish, the food was Spanish. No-one told us that there would be so many foreigners."

16. "We had to line up outside to catch the boat and there was no air-conditioning."

17. "It is your duty as a tour operator to advise us of noisy or unruly guests before we travel."

18. "I was bitten by a mosquito. The brochure did not mention mosquitoes."

19. "My fiancée and I requested twin-beds when we booked, but instead we were placed in a room with a king bed. We now hold you all responsible and want to be re-reimbursed for the fact that I became pregnant. This would not have happened if you had put us in the room that we booked."

Catherine Nesbitt writes about

FACEBOOK

For people of a certain age like me who do not, and cannot, comprehend why Facebook exists, I am trying to make friends outside of Facebook while applying the same principles.

Therefore, every day I walk down the street and tell passers-by what I have eaten, how I feel at the moment, what I have done the night before, what I will do later, and with whom.

I give them pictures of my family, my dog, of me gardening, taking things apart in the garage, watering the lawn, standing in front of landmarks, driving around town, having lunch, and doing what anybody and everybody does every day.

I also listen to their conversations, give them the "thumbs up" and tell them I like them.

And it works just like Facebook. I already have four people following me: two police officers, a private investigator, and a psychiatrist.

Shirley Conlon forwards this antidote to all the bad news we´ve had lately:

REALLY GOOD NEWS

The giant panda is no longer an endangered species.

The Ocean Cleanup project plans to clean up 40% of ocean plastics starting this year.

China announced plans to end the ivory trade in their country.

U.S. veteran homelessness has declined by 50% in the last 10 years.

The Ice Bucket Challenge provided ALS research enough money to identify a gene associated with the disease.

China put a ban on new coal mines and 15% of their economy will use renewable energy by 2020.

The Manatee is no longer on the endangered species list.

The Colombian government and FARC rebels signed a peace agreement, ending a war that left 7 million people dead or homeless.

A drone called "Juno" flew over 445 million miles to orbit the planet Jupiter and learn about the origin of our solar system.

Canada protected 85% of the Great Bear Rainforest, part of the world´s largest temperate rainforest.

Measles has been eradicated from North, Central, and South America.

Malawi saw its HIV rate among children drop by 67%.

Twenty countries created 40 protected marine parks, covering an area the size of the USA.

Israel produces 55% of its fresh water from the sea, turning the desert into farmland.

An Ebola vaccine was developed by Canadians with a 100% success rate.

Tiger numbers are on the rise for the first time in 100 years.

Einstein´s theory of gravitational waves has been proven correct.

India planted 50 million trees in 24 hours with 800,000 volunteers.

Special thanks to star man Christ Hadfield for this list.

Carol Hansen reminds us that

OLD AGE IS A GIFT

I am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person I have always wanted to be. Oh, not my body! I sometimes despair over my body, the wrinkles, the baggy eyes, the sagging butt. And often I am taken aback by that old person who lives in my mirror (who looks like my mother or father!) but I don´t agonise over those things for long.

I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for fewer grey hairs or a flatter belly. As I´ve aged, I´ve become more kind to myself, and less critical of myself. I´ve become my own friend.

I don´t chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn´t need, but looks so avante garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant.

I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon, before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 a.m. and sleep until noon?

I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the ´60s and ´70s, and if, at the same time, I wish to weep over a lost love ... I will.

I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set. They, too, will get old.

I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody´s beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength, understanding, and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning grey, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.

As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don´t question myself anymore. I´ve even earned the right to be wrong.

I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day (if I feel like it).

SUGGESTED SITES

Carol Dilworth forwards this link to a comic article in The Guardian about the gender wars of household chores, which claims that when a man expects his partner to ask him to do things, he is viewing her as the manager of their household chores:

Tom Telfer forwards this link to a video of women performing amazing feats of strength, skill, and grace:

Tom also sends the URL for a video of a cat who turned a local economy around in Japan:

From the Good News Network comes this story of a bridegroom who leapt into a river to save a drowning boy:

Alex Pirvu is only 10, and almost completely blind, but he sings "My Way" like a pro:

Can you get 100% in this English homonyms quiz? I did, and hesitated over only one choice, the last one:

This video shows how China is reclaiming lands swallowed by the Gobi Desert: