A Thought to Remember
My wife and kids have a good time calling me a geek for my reading habits, especially when they discuss the fact that I read so much as a kid. They call me 'Brick' from the show 'The Middle'.
I can't really debunk the idea.
As a kid the Penny Saver came to the house and I would read it from cover-to-cover. On the back page there was an ad from a funeral home, I believe, or a church...anywhoha...it was always something inspirational. It went by the title "A Thought to Remember."
I always read that first.
This week, at my parents house, I opened a cupboard and saw one of the columns, worn and weathered, hung on the door where Mom spent hundreds of thousands of hours doing laundry.
I read it. I remembered reading it as a kid.
Here it is:
The Will to Win
Figure it out for yourself my lad
You've all that the greatest of men have had;
Two arms, two legs, two hands, two eyes
And a brain to use if you would be wise
With this equipment they all began
So start from the top and say 'I am.'
Look them over, the wise and the great
they take their food from a common plate
and similar knives and forks they use
with similar laces they tie their shoes.
The world considers them brave and smart
But you have all they had when they made their start.
You can triumph and come to skill
You can be great if you only will
You're well equipped for what fight you choose
You have arms and legs and a brain to use
And the man who's risen and found great deeds to do
began his life with no more than you.
You are the handicap you will face
You are the one who must choose your place
You get to say where you want to go
How much you will study the truth to know
God has equipped you for this life, but He
Let's you decide what you want to be
Courage must come from the soul within
The man must furnish the will to win
So figure it out for yourself, my lad
You were born with what all the greats have had
With your equipment they all began
Get hold of yourself and say
"I can."
And as I moved around the house where I grew up I started to notice the inspirational notes stuck to the walls and posted in the cabinets. All about growing children. All about living the right way, and it occurred to me just where all the reading and writing came from. (I'd known it anyway), but it was all about Mom.
She told me "I can."
I can't really debunk the idea.
As a kid the Penny Saver came to the house and I would read it from cover-to-cover. On the back page there was an ad from a funeral home, I believe, or a church...anywhoha...it was always something inspirational. It went by the title "A Thought to Remember."
I always read that first.
This week, at my parents house, I opened a cupboard and saw one of the columns, worn and weathered, hung on the door where Mom spent hundreds of thousands of hours doing laundry.
I read it. I remembered reading it as a kid.
Here it is:
The Will to Win
Figure it out for yourself my lad
You've all that the greatest of men have had;
Two arms, two legs, two hands, two eyes
And a brain to use if you would be wise
With this equipment they all began
So start from the top and say 'I am.'
Look them over, the wise and the great
they take their food from a common plate
and similar knives and forks they use
with similar laces they tie their shoes.
The world considers them brave and smart
But you have all they had when they made their start.
You can triumph and come to skill
You can be great if you only will
You're well equipped for what fight you choose
You have arms and legs and a brain to use
And the man who's risen and found great deeds to do
began his life with no more than you.
You are the handicap you will face
You are the one who must choose your place
You get to say where you want to go
How much you will study the truth to know
God has equipped you for this life, but He
Let's you decide what you want to be
Courage must come from the soul within
The man must furnish the will to win
So figure it out for yourself, my lad
You were born with what all the greats have had
With your equipment they all began
Get hold of yourself and say
"I can."
And as I moved around the house where I grew up I started to notice the inspirational notes stuck to the walls and posted in the cabinets. All about growing children. All about living the right way, and it occurred to me just where all the reading and writing came from. (I'd known it anyway), but it was all about Mom.
She told me "I can."
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