Thought 17APR2008

LET'S GO BUG HUNTING MORE OFTEN
One fall afternoon I rushed home from the university where I taught. I prepared a hasty dinner, threatened my nine-year-old daughter, Christi, to hurry and finish her homework, "or else," and properly reprimanded Del, my husband, for leaving his dusty shoes on the good carpet. I then frantically vacuumed the entryway because a group of prestigious ladies were coming by to pick up some good used clothing for a worthwhile cause; and then later a graduate student would be at our house to work on a very important thesis - one that I was certain would make a sound contribution to research.

As I paused to catch my breath, I heard Christi talking with a friend on the telephone. Her comments went something like this: "Mom is cleaning house - some ladies we don't even know are coming by to pick up some old worn-out clothes ... and a college student is coming out to work on a thesis ... no, I don't know what a thesis is ... I just know Mom isn't doing anything important .... and she won't go bug hunting with me."

Before Christi had hung up the phone, I had put on my jeans and old tennis shoes, persuaded Del to do likewise, pinned a note to the door telling the graduate student I'd be back soon and set the box of used clothing on the front porch with a note on it that Del, Christi and I had gone bug hunting.
Barbara Chesser, Ph.D. - extracted from 'a 5th portion of Chicken Soup for the Soul', Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, Health Communications, Inc., 1998
A man is not old until his regrets take the place of his dreams - John Barrymore