Megaphone -- Page 6

To Enjoy The Twilight

...means to sit with the one you love as the end of the day comes to a close and the cool whisper of the night washes over you...

...it means you look up and see the lights of the planes...they like extra stars twinkling in the velvet blackness of the night...

shhhh...listen to the sounds of twilight...the last cooing of the birds before their sleep...the gentle sounds of humanity gathering in the last moments of the day as memories for their tomorrows...

...hear the gentle sound of the night air as it dances pass you...

...watch as the sun sets...painting the sky with colors not made by man...feel its last warmth...breathe in the essence of the air around you...close your eye...taste it ...savor it....

...to enjoy the twilight most of all means being with the one you love...to kiss...to touch...to love...

by Sharon (Woods) Schwartz '55

Grandchildren

Grandchildren are an expensive luxury,
But worth every dollar and kiss.
For if I didn't have my grandchildren,
They would be a luxury I'd truly miss.

by Gurtha Cabbage

Us and Them

There are very few absolute truths in human events. There are also a lot of people who think there are. Issues are surrounded by different points of view each carrying the validity of its being possessed in someone's mind. I'll grant validity to that extent. I do have a concern. When I visit a city, say D.C. or New Orleans, it disturbs me to see houses with bars on the windows and doors. Those bars prevent ingress, but they also prevent egress, just like the bars on a jail. Jail is not a geographical place as much as it is a condition.

I fear a life where we put "bars" on our country's borders because of the condition that life will become. Keep in mind the validity I granted above. The terrorists have really won to a large degree. Our airline industry is crippled, perhaps never to fully recover. The economy continues to suffer, NYC is spending an additional $2 mil a week on security.

There are understandable restrictions on our freedoms. Here in the tri-state area riders on mass transit are now subject to random searches. The NYC police chief has warned people to be on the lookout for people who are sweating. Better put away the Tabasco Sauce.

Prejudice thrives as a germ in a warm Petri dish, "My mind is made up, don't confuse me with the facts." There are few absolute truths and I fear where we are heading.

Craig Toensing '55

When I was living in Rockwall, Texas, I rescued a wild kitten. She was one of 4 kittens born under the manager's trailer inside this trailer park where I was renting a small travel trailer.

One day after a couple of moves and a year or so later, I decided I'd like to put a greeting on my answering machine with Daisy and I.

When the time was right, I held her next to the speaker and we began with... "Hello...say hello Daisy"...and she meowed..."You have reached...(phone #)...please leave a message after the tone, and we will get back to you as soon as we can...aint that right Daisy?" and she meowed again.

That was a lot of fun and people liked it so well they said if I could make them one, they'd buy it . . . wow, I could have gotten rich . . . lots of ideas popped in my head, that's for sure!

When I was a caregiver for the elderly, my agency sent me to care for a gentleman from England who was on hospice.

Loving to hear his family talk I decided to put a greeting on my phone assuming it would sound just like them...[but thought it'd be best if I tried it out on one of his sisters first]...Speaking just like her, I gave my greeting, and when I finished, I was shocked when she said I needed more practice on the numbers...noin seven tew...three...three-foive...zero-tew...noin-zero...I asked her to say the numbers so I could be accurate... Oooh man, was I embarrassed when she said them as plainly as you or I.

Then there was the time I thought of sounding like I was on a pirate ship..."Eh-looo thar maighty...yew 'ave reached the ship at noin..seven..tew..3..3..foive..zero..tew noin zero...Oiy saiy...maightey...leave yore naime and numbur and aiy wiell call yew roight beck". When my granddaughter called from Indiana...the only message she left on my answering machine was "Oh Nana..." and lots of laughter. As she passed the word, there were several "nameless" callers from Indiana and one from Michigan. Recognizing the laughter of each one brought a warm smile to this "homesick" caregiver.

At my age you'd think I would grow up, but 2 years ago, the kids bought me one of those relaxing sound machines for Mother's day...(can't remember what it's called). It has 5 different sounds on it...one of them is a heart beat...and one time just goofing around, I put a greeting on my answering machine with it.

So pretend like you can hear a heart beat along with the following greeting: "Hello, you've reached the heartbeat of...(phone #)...Please leave a message after the beep and I will get back with you...in a heart-beat."

Louise (Mountcastle) Romine '56
Elwood, IN