Stories by tressyanne (10 matches)

A 10-Year Old Teacher Tips Us in Life

In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him.  "Miss, how much is an ice cream sundae?" he asked.  "Fifty cents," replied the waitress.  The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it.  "Okay then, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?" he inquired.  By now, more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing impatient.  "Thirty-five cents," she brusquely replied.  The little boy again counted his coins.  "I'll have the plain ice cream," he said. The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table, and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier, and left. When the waitress came back to that table, she began to ... Read Full Story >>

Certificate of Kindness for a 10-Year-Old

"True Happiness is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy cause."     Helen Keller Sometimes we set examples when we don't even know it.  My 10 1/2 year old son amazed me not too long ago.  He came home from school and was upset that someone had taken a classmate's Gameboy.  He said, "Mom who could have taken his Gameboy?  Doesn't everyone have Gameboys already?" I told him that sometimes we don't know why people take things.  I told him what my grandmother always told me.  "Tressy, people who steal or take things, must need them way more than you do."  So I told him that someone must have needed the Gameboy more than his friend. A few days later I noticed a note in my son's bookbag from his teacher, letting me know that he had earned an award in kindness. He was mentioned in an assembly and was given a certificate of kindness.  My son ... Read Full Story >>

Students of Life

Certain people weave in and out of our lives. Some come in and stay a little longer and then there are others who are with us for a lifetime. No matter how eternal or fleeting the moment is, this short story reminds us of the lessons that life teaches us if we are ready and alert to be its earnest students. Here is one of those lessons I would like to share: Life Lesson 1 - "The Cleaning Lady" The first lesson encourages us to examine how we treat others. It was my second month of college. One day, our professor decided to be spontaneous and announced the sudden arrival of a pop quiz for all of the classmates. I was a rather conscientious student. I was particular about completing the daily homework assignments, and always stayed after class to probe the professor with detail-oriented questions which were at times unnecessary. At any rate, I wasn't ... Read Full Story >>

Tell Someone You Love Them

I just had quite a moving experience here at work. A long time customer came in and was sad.  I asked what was wrong and he said, "I have to attend my wife's funeral visitation this evening."  He continued, "She passed away from pancreatic cancer on Sunday." He said they had been in Florida having the time of their lives 7 months ago.  They had been married 25 years and spent a month there having a fun vacation.  When they got back home his wife noticed a sore-muscle-type pain in her side and it just kept nagging her.  She later found out that she had pancreatic cancer and it had spread into her liver. There were no warning signs other than that nagging pain and 7 months later she passed away.  He looked at me and said, "Honey, when you go home tonight make sure you tell your husband and other loved ones that you love them more ... Read Full Story >>

The Smile Revolution

Maya Angelou once said:  "I have learned that people will forget what you said. People will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." I got a chance to speak with my Grandma Gigi yesterday. She lives in Texas now and because I live in Missouri,  I don't get to spend much time with her anymore. I miss her so deeply that it is agonizing. I cannot articulate through words how much she means to me and how much I love her, but I do.  I talked to her for an hour today and I just wanted to jump on a plane and spend all week with her. I felt so refreshed after talking to her. We are like mirrors of each other. She is just like me, always trying to make people laugh and smile. She is the one who always told me to shoot smiles at everyone because you never know if that person is having the worst day of their life and if ... Read Full Story >>

Tis' the Season of Smiling

In the spirit of embracing the season of giving, I was going through all of the books my children had and was getting ready to donate them to our local library. Since I use the facilities and books at the library all the time, I thought that the least I could do was keep the circle of giving going by donating more childrens' literature back to the public institution. As I rummaged through the piles of books and organized them into stacks, I could not help but peek through some of my most cherished childrens' poetry books, and share a short and sweet poem with all of you, before I gave it away:

"Smiling is infectious,
You can catch it like the flu.
Someone smiled at me today,
And I started smiling too."
-Author Unknown

It's the Season to Smile!

Just A Simple Little Thing

“Never lose sight of the importance of a beautiful sunrise, Or watching your kids sleep, or the smell of rain.  It’s often the little things that really matter in life.”  -- Unknown Yesterday, I did a very simple little thing. I was working out at the gym on my lunch hour and an elderly lady was in there riding on the bike.  She can't walk very well and uses a cane, but she was in there working hard. When I was done exercising, I told her that I was going to wait for her until she got done and that I would walk her out to the car.  It was a little ways to the car and it was a foggy, gloomy damp day yesterday here in Missouri.  I walked her to the car and opened her door and I felt so good for helping her. She could have fallen so easily out in that damp parking lot ... Read Full Story >>

Chocolate Chip Cookies for a Late Night

I had quite a long night last night waiting around to get Direct TV high definition installed.  The man didn't show up until 8 pm last night and when he got to our house he looked ragged and worn out.  I asked him if it had been a long day and he said yes and that it was going to be a long night.  He was running about 4 hours late when he got to our house and just looked so tired. We have had satelite for 15 years , but just bought a new TV over the weekend, so of course that meant we now had to have high def. While the man was working we had my son's ball team over for practice since 6 at our house and three boys stayed over while their parents talked to my husband.  I made everyone a batch of spaghetti and fed the boys.  While the Direct TV man was still working I ... Read Full Story >>

A Birthday Brings Gifts for Needy

   I had a surprise 40th birthday party for my husband a few weeks ago and instead of everyone bringing my husband a gift that he did not need, I asked that everyone bring a food or paper product for our local food pantry. We had around 125 people that attended the surprise party. My husband was totally surprised. He was able to see people that he had not seen in a while. I had so many nice compliments on the party, but the special thing was that we were able to stock our local food pantry with $100 in cash and a whole truck full of food and supplies.
   If you are having a party, stop and think about doing the same thing. Others will benefit so much more than we would with a whole table full of gifts.

"The world always looks brighter from behind a smile"

~ Author Unknown.

Together We Can Make a Difference

"A SMILE IS THE SOUL'S KISSES"

I have only been a member of this wonderful group for about a week. I am so glad that I found the website and group. I have spent my whole life doing for others and even at age 39 I feel like I have so many more years to keep doing. Logging in every day I have found that there are so many special people out there like all of us. There are also so many special people that need something little done for them. A simple handshake, a simple smile, a simple hug, a little post it note left on someones desk, a little "thinking of you note". There are so many things we all can do.

I find that I am constantly thinking of ways to help people and thinking of fun things to surprise someone with. 

Together we all can make a difference!!!!!!