Stories by modida (2 matches)

A New Christmas Tradition

This year for christmas we decided to do something different, and many of our family members have signed on as well. We decided we'll each donate our Christmas shopping (and wrapping!) budgets to a charity or something similar, then we'll all get together at Christmas time, have stockings and yummy treats and dinner and family time, and share what we were able to achieve with the money. We'll ask others to refrain from buying us gifts, donating the money they would have spent as they choose, if they choose. It's a bold experiment for a bunch of consumer-happy U.S. citizens, but we're commited. We sponsor a young girl in the Philippines. Her name is Mary Joy, and she's now 16. She writes often to tell us about her life and family. Recently we got a letter that said she has finished high school and is unable to go on to college as ... Read Full Story >>

Waking Up To Flowers by My Side

After a long day at a convention in San Francisco, I arrived in the hotel lobby too late to meet my party for dinner. I sat down on a very comfortable couch feeling a bit sorry for myself, and somehow I dozed off with my head on the arm of the sofa. I awoke some time later feeling groggy and disoriented, and a little embarrassed at having fallen asleep in public. As I looked around me, rubbing my eyes, wondering whether anyone had noticed, I saw that someone had left a bouquet of flowers on the arm of the sofa, right next to where I'd fallen asleep. I looked around again, but no one in the busy hotel lobby paid me any mind. It felt surreal, like a dream, and I tried to imagine who might have done such a thing, what led them to it, what thoughts surrounded the act. I still ... Read Full Story >>

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