O/T some real wisdom here

I am posting this because the message is something we should all think about.


In memory of Erma Bombeck who lost her fight with cancer.

IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER - by Erma Bombeck
(written after she found out she was dying from cancer).

I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren"t there for the day.

I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.

I would have talked less and listened more.

I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained, or the sofa faded.

I would have eaten the popcorn in the "good" living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.

I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband.

I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer daybecause my hair had just been teased and sprayed.

I would have sat on the lawn with my grass stains.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching television and more while watching life.

I would never have bought anything just because it was practical,wouldn"t show soil, or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.

Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy,
I"d have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.

When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, "Later.Now go get washed up for dinner." There would have been more "I love you"s" More "I"m sorry"s."

But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute.look at it and really see it .. live it and never give it back. STOP SWEATING THE SMALL STUFF!!!

Don"t worry about who doesn"t like you, who has more, or who"s doing what. Instead, let"s cherish the relationships we have with those who do love us.

thanks.
larry cook

Most of us are "too late smart, too soon old". Used to like Erma's columns and books. Probably for most folks, the VERY first time they face their own mortality is when they bury their last parent. If you're (not necessarily you, Nancy) still young, trust me; you won't believe how quickly life slips away. "Life's what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."

Isn't that the truth. The first time I ended up in intensive care,I lost interest in milking cows. It took too much time away from my family and if not for thinking the cows would all die without me there,I would have had a simple problem taken care of before it put me in ICU. Then another guy my age died in the hospital because they gave him the choice of a quick fix or three days in the hosital. He had to get home to the cows,so the quick fix killed him. The second time in ICU,I layed there and wrote up an ad for the wife to put in print to sell the cows. I could either sell them in my own time over the next month or so,or she could get rid of them quick after I died. Sure makes you remember all the things that you missed when you finally get the time to think,but at least I'm alive to think it. I try not to miss anything with family,whether it's adult siblings,grown kids or grandkids. Hope everybody takes the time to think about these things before it's too late for 'em.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN "STILL YOUNG (NOT NECESSARILY YOU, NANCY)? OOOPS!


lol

Good!
Kennyp

I figgered I'd get drug through the mud over that, but I also know you knew what I meant; no harm, no foul??? :>)

Is she the one who wrote "the grass is always greener over the spetic tank " ? I'm trying to place who she is as I'm sure I saw her on talk shows before.

Yup,that was her. My mother always read her newspaper column out loud.

Yes, and a number of other books and a newspaper column. A very funny lady, who wrote from the standpoint of an everyday housewife.

I have and enjoy a bunch of her books and am sorry she has passed on.

This is exactly why I live where I do.

People just look at life different when they are are older but if you don't like your life the eway it is then change what you're doing.

The best (by a factor of 10) graduation I ever attended was my Masters Degree from Bowling Green State U in BG Ohio. The keynote Speaker was Erma, She had every person rolling out of the bleachers (it was outside in the stadium). It was terrific.
Thanks for the reminder of the wonderful person she was, and the insight. To ope other poster below, She was the author of The Grass I A G O T S T JimN

Absolutely no harm and no foul. Just gave me an opportunity for some friendly ribbing. If we can't laugh with each other, at each other and at ourselves, what a miserable existence we would have.

Still smiling.

If youre not having any fun change the rules.

It is interesting to read the thoughts that went into selling your herd. I sold mine in 2000 and it seemed like my world had ended. My grandpa kept milking till me was 82, for alot of the same reasons that you wanted to sell your cattle. He only had 33 cows but he always said that the best way to spend time with the family was for them to come out and enjoy the farm with him. I think he missed traveling and the other retirement stuff but to him, smelling the silage each morning when he walked in and saw the cows laying silently in the stanchions was the greatest sense of peace and contentment he could ever find.

Brother-in-law once told me life is for the living.

Spend a few days on deaths bed and you wake up real fast, been almost 14 years and still going strong. Going to disk a field tomorrow wish me luck. A good time to set on my 1945 Case LA and listen to her roar as she pulls the 12 ft. disc.
Walt

Nancy (or others): Thanks for your post. Used to read Ermas column on a regular basis as she had a way of turning the mundane happenings of everyday life into humorous episodes.

My question: How do I e-mail, to others outside the forum, articles such as yours from this forum. I quite often find stuff I would like to pass on to others - but simply don't know how to do it. If you answer, please be very specific, because I can barely turn this thing on let alone take advantage of "everything possible" it can do.

Thanks again for a great post. bob farrell

Bob, One way to do it is to left click and run your mouse over all the text you wish to copy and highlight it. then press Ctrl-C (that is two keys at the same time). Go start an e-mail to whomever you wish to send it to and when you get to the point you want to add the copied text, position the cursor there and press Ctrl-V (two keys again). All the text you highlited should then appear in your e-mail. Move beyond it and add anything further you wish to add. Hope this is clear enough.

It should look like this:

My question: How do I e-mail, to others outside the forum, articles such as yours from this forum. I quite often find stuff I would like to pass on to others - but simply don't know how to do it. If you answer, please be very specific, because I can barely turn this thing on let alone take advantage of "everything possible" it can do.

Bryce