floyd
19-03-2007, 01:33 AM
A nurse took the tired, anxious serviceman to the bedside.
>>
>>"Your son is here," she said to the old man.
>>
>>She had to repeat the words several times before the patient's eyes
>>opened.
>>
>>Heavily sedated because of the pain of his heart attack, he dimly saw the
>>young uniformed
>>Marine standing outside the oxygen tent. He reached out*his hand. The
>>Marine wrapped his toughened fingers around the old man's limp ones,
>>squeezing a message of love and encouragement.
>>
>>The nurse brought a chair so that the Marine could sit beside the bed.*
>>*All through the night
>>the young Marine sat there in the poorly lighted
>>ward,*holding the old man's hand and offering
>>him words of love and strength.* Occasionally, the nurse suggested that
>>the Marine move away
>>and rest awhile.
>>
>>He refused. Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the Marine was
>>oblivious of her and of
>>the night noises of the hospital - the clanking of the oxygen tank, the
>>laughter of the night
>>staff members exchanging greetings, the cries and moans of the other
>>patients.
>>
>>Now and then she heard him say a few gentle words. The dying man said
>>nothing, only held
>>tightly to his son all through the night.
>>
>>Along towards dawn, the old man died. The Marine released the now lifeless
>>hand he had
>>been holding and went to tell the nurse. While she did what she had to do,
>>he waited.
>>
>>Finally, she returned. She started to offer words of sympathy, but the
>>Marine interrupted her.
>>
>>"Who was that man?" he asked. The nurse was startled, "He was your
>>father," she answered.
>>"No, he
>>wasn't," the Marine replied. "I never saw him before in my life."
>>
>>"Then why didn't you say something when I took you to him?"
>>
>>"I knew right away there had been a mistake, but I also knew he needed his
>>son, and his
>>son just wasn't here. When I realized that he was too sick
>>to tell whether or not I was his son, knowing how much he needed me, I
>>stayed."
>>
>>The next time someone needs you ... just be there. Stay.
>>
>>WE ARE NOT HUMAN BEINGS GOING THROUGH A
>>TEMPORARY SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE.
>>
>>WE ARE SPIRITUAL BEINGS GOING THROUGH A TEMPORARY
>>HUMAN EXPERIENCE.
>>
>>"Your son is here," she said to the old man.
>>
>>She had to repeat the words several times before the patient's eyes
>>opened.
>>
>>Heavily sedated because of the pain of his heart attack, he dimly saw the
>>young uniformed
>>Marine standing outside the oxygen tent. He reached out*his hand. The
>>Marine wrapped his toughened fingers around the old man's limp ones,
>>squeezing a message of love and encouragement.
>>
>>The nurse brought a chair so that the Marine could sit beside the bed.*
>>*All through the night
>>the young Marine sat there in the poorly lighted
>>ward,*holding the old man's hand and offering
>>him words of love and strength.* Occasionally, the nurse suggested that
>>the Marine move away
>>and rest awhile.
>>
>>He refused. Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the Marine was
>>oblivious of her and of
>>the night noises of the hospital - the clanking of the oxygen tank, the
>>laughter of the night
>>staff members exchanging greetings, the cries and moans of the other
>>patients.
>>
>>Now and then she heard him say a few gentle words. The dying man said
>>nothing, only held
>>tightly to his son all through the night.
>>
>>Along towards dawn, the old man died. The Marine released the now lifeless
>>hand he had
>>been holding and went to tell the nurse. While she did what she had to do,
>>he waited.
>>
>>Finally, she returned. She started to offer words of sympathy, but the
>>Marine interrupted her.
>>
>>"Who was that man?" he asked. The nurse was startled, "He was your
>>father," she answered.
>>"No, he
>>wasn't," the Marine replied. "I never saw him before in my life."
>>
>>"Then why didn't you say something when I took you to him?"
>>
>>"I knew right away there had been a mistake, but I also knew he needed his
>>son, and his
>>son just wasn't here. When I realized that he was too sick
>>to tell whether or not I was his son, knowing how much he needed me, I
>>stayed."
>>
>>The next time someone needs you ... just be there. Stay.
>>
>>WE ARE NOT HUMAN BEINGS GOING THROUGH A
>>TEMPORARY SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE.
>>
>>WE ARE SPIRITUAL BEINGS GOING THROUGH A TEMPORARY
>>HUMAN EXPERIENCE.