O Stories

The Pastor called me to come forward. I walked to the pulpit. I looked out at my family. Their faces still damp with tears. Then I gazed down at the shiny black coffin. My father, Charlie Lyons, was gone. It was my turn to pay tribute to the man who taught me so much growing up on the Northside. How do you sum up a lifetime in 10 minutes? Then, I started talking about a special moment.  Dad was always full of advice, but one of the biggest lessons he taught me one summer was about having a strong work ethic. When my brother and I were growing up, we mowed yards during the summer to earn pocket money. Dad was our salesman. He pitched our service to neighbors and offered a price they could not refuse. My brother and I got $10 per yard. Some yards were a half-acre. I later found out our friends were charging $20 or more for the same amount of work.  Every time we headed out to mow lawns, Dad was there to watch. I used to wonder why he came with us. He stood supe...

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He was holding up a sign which said: “I am blind, please help.” There were only a few coins in the hat. A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the boy’s hat.  He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words on it. The man then put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words. Soon the blind boy’s hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were with his blind friend. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked in amazement, “Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?”  The man replied, “I only wrote the truth. I also said what you had written but in a different way.” What the man had written was: “Today is a beautiful day and I cannot see it.”  Do you think the first sign and t...

There was a business executive who was deep in debt and could see no way out. Creditors were closing in on him. Suppliers were demanding payment. He sat on the park bench, head in hands, wondering if anything could save his company from bankruptcy.  Suddenly an old man appeared before him. ”I can see that something is troubling you,” he said. After listening to the executive’s woes, the old man said, “I believe I can help you.” He asked the man his name, wrote out a cheque, and pushed it into his hand saying, “Take this money. Meet me here exactly one year from today, and you can pay me back at that time.” Then he turned and disappeared. The business executive saw in his hand a cheque for $500,000, signed by John D. Rockefeller, then one of the richest men in the world! “I can erase my money worries in an instant!” he realized. But instead, the executive decided to put the uncashed cheque in his safe.  Just knowing it was there might give him the strength t...

Once upon a time in a small village lived two brothers. The younger one was seven years old and the elder one was nine. The kids used to spend most of their time playing with each other in the forest. One such evening while playing hide and seek, the elder brother ventured into the dark forest. His brother tried finding him everywhere but he could not.  Afraid and reluctant, he eventually entered the forest to look for his brother. After many hours of ordeal, he finally spotted his elder brother trapped in a deep dry well screaming for help. The kid looked around to seek help from someone but there was no sign of any human in the vicinity. They were all alone there!  Alarmed, he ran to the well where his brother was trapped to help him out. By now both of them had realized that they were completely on their own.  The younger brother started looking around the well and found a piece of worn out rope. Without wasting another minute, he quickly dropped the ro...

A group of Kangaroos were travelling through the woods. Two Kangaroo fell into a deep pit. The other Kangaroos gathered around the hall and after seeing the depth, they said, “Nothing can be done, you are good as dead.” Both the kangaroos ignored the comments and they kept jumping. The other kangaroos kept repeating they are good as dead, finally one of the two kangaroo gave up and died. The other kangaroo still tried. Once again, the other kangaroos yelled at them, you are good as dead.  The kangaroo jumped harder and finally made it out. Seeing this, the kangaroos were is shock and they asked, Did you not hear us? She did not speak and later thanked them to motivate her. She explained she was deaf and thought they all were motivating her to come out. Become deaf! Become Blind! for the people who are around to depress you. Take it positively and work harder to achieve your aim. The same people will follow you when you are at the pinnacle. The power l...

Salt and the lake ONCE an unhappy young man came to an old master and told he had a very sad life and asked for a solution. The old Master instructed the unhappy young man to put a handful of salt in a glass of water and then to drink it. "How does it taste?" - the Master asked. "Terrible." - spat the apprentice. The Master chuckled and then asked the young man to take another handful of salt and put it in the lake. The two walked in silence to the nearby lake and when the apprentice swirled his handful of salt into the lake. The old man said, "Now drink from the lake." As the water dripped down the young man's chin, the Master asked, "How does it taste?" "Good!" - remarked the apprentice. "Do you taste the salt?" - asked the Master. "No." - said the young man. The Master sat beside this troubled young man, took his hands, and said, "The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no ...

Burned Biscuits When I was a little child, at times my mom liked to make breakfast food for dinner every now and then. And I remember one night in particular when she had made breakfast food at dinner time after a long, hard day at work. On that evening so long ago, my mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage and extremely burned biscuits in front of my dad. I remember waiting to see if anyone noticed! Yet, all my dad did was reach for his biscuit, smile at my mom and ask me how my day was at school. I don’t remember what I told him that night, but I do remember watching him smear butter and jelly on that burnt biscuit and eat every bite! When I got up from the table that evening, I remember hearing my mom apologise to my dad for burning the biscuits. And I’ll never forget what he said: “Baby, I love burned biscuits.” Later that night, I went to kiss Daddy good night and I asked him if he really liked his biscuits burned. He wrapped me in his arms and said, “Y...