"It's little things that mean so much"
I made a new profile picture/logo for my page yesterday and a dear friend, Cindy, liked it a lot, so I surprised her this morning and made a logo for her.
She loves coffee, writes absolutely beautiful poetry, and her favorite color is purple. After I sent her the picture, she wrote this beautiful poem for me that made me cry.
LITTLE THINGS
It's little things that mean so much A kind word, a gentle touch Handmade treasures filled with love Or surprise gifts, just because When life seems hard and hope is lost Hearts feel thoughtfulness, not size or cost The smallest gesture of a dear friend Sparks belief the darkness will end Rainbows start shining through the rain Life's Garden begins to bloom again ~By Cindy J. Smith
It's little things that mean so much
It made me happy to make something nice for her and it made her happy that I thought about her. And then, she made me cry happy tears when she wrote a poem, just for me. Do something nice today for someone
A kind act will brighten a friend's day and your day as well. Trust me!
There is so much misery, jealousy, cruelty and suffering in our world, brighten someone's day if only for a minute, and put a happy smile on their faces. Cindy is a great poet, her life experiences provide her with inspiration. Wife, mother and grandmother, she has a myriad of beautiful memories to draw from. Never having been good at playing the part of "starving artist", she has had many careers. Recently she retired from being an over-the-road truck driver with her husband, Dave, which provided different perspectives of the world in which we live. Cindy has published five poetry books (with two more coming out in December) and a children's book. More of her poems appear in various anthologies as well as several books by fellow authors. You can find Cindy's poetry books on AMAZON Her page on FACEBOOK And on TWITTER And three of her eBooks on many sites:
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Because I couldn't finish this story to little JohnnyToday I will share a painful memory with you This painful memory stayed with me throughout my nursing career and I'll never forget this little boy who loved listening to my stories. As a young nurse, I worked in the pediatric unit for a short while. Johnny was a nine-year-old cute as a button little boy who had leukemia. The medications and treatments wiped him out physically and emotionally but he still had a sweet smile for everyone who entered his room. Restrained sobs choked me every time I saw his pale, angelic little face and heard him say, "Hello, beautiful. Give me that shot quickly and tell me a story." (his father was a flirt and he imitated him by calling the nurses beautiful or gorgeous.) Our storytelling sessions started when he had a very bad day and the medications didn't work to suppress his nausea and headache. All I could do was sit by his bed, hold his hand and wait for the stronger medication to kick in. To break the silence and get his attention away from heaving and pain, I started reciting a fairy tale, "Once upon a time..." As I continued the story, his breathing slowed and he hung onto every word seemingly forgetting his pain and mystery for a few minutes. The story with medicine became our routine and one morning, because I didn't remember any more fairy tales that I had read as a child, I started telling him my childhood memories. One of my fondest memory was how my best friend and I saved four drowning kittens when a cruel neighbor threw them into the river. Johnny grew weaker and weaker and could listen to the story only a few minutes at a time, but he remembered the next day where we left off. When we got to the part where my mom prepared a wicker basket for the kittens, Johnny's eyes lit up and said, "A kosarnyi kiscica" which means "A basketful of kittens." When I wrote this story into a children's book last year, in memory of little Johnny, I gave the title to the book he came up with: A Basketful of Kittens. I never had a chance to tell him the end of the story. There were only a few minutes left to tell him how Daniel and I dealt with the neighborhood bullies, but when I entered little Johnny's room the next morning, his bed was empty. This book is for you little Johnny!Bianca and her best friend, Daniel, grew up together under the watchful eyes of Peanut, Bianca’s St. Bernard. The huge dog was their babysitter, playmate, and bodyguard. They were inseparable, so people started calling them the BFF Gang. When summer vacation came, Bianca and Daniel decided to go swimming in the river when they were confronted by Mark and his cronies of the Wolf Pack Gang. Find out how Peanut told Mark, in his own doggy language, how much he dislikes brute bullies. When Bianca and Daniel finally got to the river and were happily splashing in the cool water, they heard Peanut’s angry bark, and they saw an old woman approaching the riverbank with a basket in her hand. When the woman reached the edge of the river, she took a tiny, meowing kitten out of her basket and threw it into the river as far from shore as she could. The kitten flailed in the air, desperately crying, and then splashed into the water. Find out what happened to the kittens and how the children dealt with the bullies.
Creepy Hollow AdventuresMy best childhood memories are the bedtime stories my parents read to me before I fell asleep. Although dad knew the Spiffy Goose word for word after reading it 300 times, he was a good sport and kept reading it with me over and over. Later, when I learned to read, I quickly discovered the "flashlight trick" and read my favorite stories under the cover way into the night. Joe Bonadonna and I wrote this fantasy story for children 8-14 which is a great read-along for children 6-8 as well. Book OneGolden Book Award Winner, spooky and funny heroic fantasy adventure for middle-grade children and younger adults. A great read-along for children 6-8 as well. Nikki and her impish cousin, Jack, find a mysterious black pumpkin in the forest on Halloween. A wise talking skeleton, Wishbone, tells them that the ghosts of the Trinity of Wishmothers are trapped inside the pumpkin and can’t be freed without their wands. The children offer their help, so the skeleton takes them on a journey to the world of Creepy Hollow to retrieve the three wands he hid long ago in Red Crow Forest, the Tower of Shadows, and the Cave of Spooks. Ghoulina, the beautiful vegetarian ghoul, and Catman, who was once a man, join them on their quest. They must face danger and conquer evil every step of the way as they search for the Wands before the wicked Hobgoblin and his henchman, a Tasmanian Devil, can get their hands on them. This is a fun, humorous and touching story for kids, with plenty of character interaction woven into a backdrop of scary danger, heroic action and lessons to be learned. Book TwoNikki and Jack return to Creepy Hollow in this new, action-packed fantasy adventure for middle-grade children and young adults. On her 13th birthday, Nikki discovers she has magical powers. During a surprise attack by the giant Mutanto, his henchmen Howler and a gang of Werewolves, Wishbone, Ghoulina and Catman arrive to save the kids and tell them about Evila the Grim Witch’s plans to conquer Creepy Hollow. Nikki also learns the truth about what happened to her parents twelve years ago. She and Jack go back to Creepy Hollow with their friends to help them defeat Evila. Jack discovers he can talk to animals when they meet a herd of Wild Horses and he becomes friends with Champ, the clumsy young colt, and Sparky, the orphaned dragon. Together, Nikki and Jack conquer their fears and gain courage, and in the final battle against Evila and her minions they grow into the warriors they were destined to become. The series is also available in one book |
Erika M Szabo http://www.authorerikamszabo.com "Erika became an avid reader at a very early age, thanks to her dad who introduced her to many great books. Erika writes alternate history, romantic fantasy, magical realism novels as well as fun, educational, and bilingual books for children ages 4-12 about acceptance, friendship, family, and moral values such as accepting people with disabilities, dealing with bullies, and not judging others before getting to know them. Erika also likes to encourage children to use their imagination and daydream about fantasy worlds. | “Much like Erika, Joe’s dad introduced him to books, as well as movies and music, at a very young age. He was encouraged to write as soon as he could hold a pencil. While Joe writes mostly Heroic Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Horror and Science Fiction for an older audience, he decided to reach out to a younger audience and write something entertaining, as well as educational. This is his first collaboration with Erika, and his first children’s book.” |
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