These first two were sent by Susan at I Think, Therefore I Yam--thank you, Susan!!
A US Navy cruiser
anchored in Mississippi for a week's shore leave. The first evening, the ship's
Captain received the following note from the wife of a very wealthy and
influential plantation owner:
"Dear
Captain,
Thursday will be my daughter's Debutante Ball. I would like you to send four well-mannered, handsome, unmarried officers in their formal dress uniforms to attend the dance. They should arrive promptly at 8:00 PM prepared for an evening of polite Southern conversation. They should be excellent dancers, as they will be the escorts of lovely refined young ladies. One last point: No Jews please."
Thursday will be my daughter's Debutante Ball. I would like you to send four well-mannered, handsome, unmarried officers in their formal dress uniforms to attend the dance. They should arrive promptly at 8:00 PM prepared for an evening of polite Southern conversation. They should be excellent dancers, as they will be the escorts of lovely refined young ladies. One last point: No Jews please."
Sending a written
message by his own yeoman, the captain replied: "Madam, thank you for your
invitation. In order to present the widest possible knowledge base for polite
conversation, I am sending four of my best and most prized officers.
One is a lieutenant commander, and a graduate of Annapolis with an additional Master's degree from MIT in fluid technologies and ship design.
The second is a Lieutenant, one of our helicopter pilots, and a graduate of Northwestern university in Chicago, with a BS in Aeronautical Engineering. His Master's degree and PhD. in Aeronautical and Mechanical Engineering are from Texas Tech University and he is also an astronaut candidate.
The third officer is also a lieutenant, with degrees in both computer systems and information technology from SMU and he is awaiting notification on his doctoral dissertation from Cal Tech.
Finally, the fourth officer, also a lieutenant commander, is our ship's doctor, with an undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia and his medical degree is from the University of North Carolina. We are very proud of him, as he is also a senior fellow in Trauma Surgery at Bethesda ."
One is a lieutenant commander, and a graduate of Annapolis with an additional Master's degree from MIT in fluid technologies and ship design.
The second is a Lieutenant, one of our helicopter pilots, and a graduate of Northwestern university in Chicago, with a BS in Aeronautical Engineering. His Master's degree and PhD. in Aeronautical and Mechanical Engineering are from Texas Tech University and he is also an astronaut candidate.
The third officer is also a lieutenant, with degrees in both computer systems and information technology from SMU and he is awaiting notification on his doctoral dissertation from Cal Tech.
Finally, the fourth officer, also a lieutenant commander, is our ship's doctor, with an undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia and his medical degree is from the University of North Carolina. We are very proud of him, as he is also a senior fellow in Trauma Surgery at Bethesda ."
Upon receiving this
letter, Melinda's mother was quite excited and looked forward
to Thursday with pleasure. Her daughter would be escorted by four
handsome naval officers without peer (and the other women in her social circle
would be insanely jealous).
At precisely 8:00
PM on Thursday, Melinda's mother heard a polite rap at the door which she
opened to find, in full dress uniform, four very handsome, smiling Afro-American officers. Her mouth fell open, but pulling herself together, she stammered,
"There must be some mistake."
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As she stood in front of her 5th grade class on the very first day
of school, she told the children an untruth. Like most teachers, she
looked at her students and said that she loved them all the same.
However, that was impossible, because there in the front row, slumped in his
seat, was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard.
Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed that he did not play well with the other children, that his clothes were messy and that he constantly needed a bath. In addition, Teddy could be unpleasant. It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually take delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold X's and then putting a big "F" at the top of his papers.
At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to
review each child's past records and she put Teddy's off until last. However,
when she reviewed his file, she was in for a surprise. Teddy's first grade
teacher wrote, "Teddy is a bright child with a ready laugh. He does his
work neatly and has good manners.... he is a joy to be around.." His
second grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is an excellent student, well liked by
his classmates, but he is troubled because his mother has a terminal illness
and life at home must be a struggle." His third grade teacher wrote,
"His mother's death has been hard on him. He tries to do his best, but his
father doesn't show much interest and his home life will soon affect him if
some steps aren't taken." Teddy's fourth grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is withdrawn and doesn't show
much interest in school. He doesn't have many friends and he sometimes sleeps
in class."
By now, Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and she was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when her students brought her Christmas presents, wrapped in beautiful ribbons and bright paper, except for Teddy's. His present was clumsily wrapped in the heavy, brown paper that he got from a grocery bag. Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of the other presents. Some of the children started to laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing, and a bottle that was one-quarter full of perfume.. But she stifled the children's laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was, putting it on, and dabbing some of the perfume on her wrist. Teddy Stoddard stayed after school that day just long enough to say, "Mrs. Thompson, today you smelled just like my Mom used to."
After all the
children left, she cried for at least an hour. On that very day, she quit
teaching reading, writing and arithmetic. Instead, she began to teach
children. Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. As she
worked with him, his mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him,
the faster he responded. By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of the
smartest children in the class and, despite her lie that she would love all the
children the same, Teddy became one of her "teacher's pets."
A year later, she found a note under her door, from Teddy, telling her that she was the best teacher he ever had in his whole life. Six years went by before she got another note from Teddy. He then wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in life. Four years after that, she got another letter, saying that while things had been tough at times, he'd stayed in school, had stuck with it, and would soon graduate from college with the highest of honors. He assured Mrs. Thompson that she was still the best and favorite teacher he had ever had in his whole life. Then four more years passed and yet another letter came. This time he explained that after he got his bachelor's degree, he decided to go a little further. The letter explained that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had. But now his name was a little longer.... The letter was signed, Theodore F. Stoddard, MD.
The story does not
end there. You see, there was yet another letter that Spring. Teddy
said he had met this girl and was going to be married. He explained that his
father had died a couple of years ago and he was wondering if Mrs. Thompson
might agree to sit at the wedding in the place that was usually reserved for
the mother of the groom.
Of course, Mrs. Thompson did. And guess what? She wore that bracelet, the one with several rhinestones missing. Moreover, she made sure she was wearing the perfume that Teddy remembered his mother wearing on their last Christmas together.
They hugged each other, and Dr. Stoddard whispered in Mrs. Thompson's ear, "Thank you Mrs. Thompson for believing in me. Thank you so much for making me feel important and showing me that I could make a difference."
Mrs. Thompson, with
tears in her eyes, whispered back. She said, "Teddy, you have it all
wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I
didn't know how to teach until I met you!"
(For those of you who don't know, Teddy Stoddard is the doctor at Iowa Methodist in Des Moines heading the Stoddard Cancer Wing.)
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(For those of you who don't know, Teddy Stoddard is the doctor at Iowa Methodist in Des Moines heading the Stoddard Cancer Wing.)
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This was sent by Carole--thanks, Carole!!
AN OLD GUY AND A BUCKET OF SHRIMP
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