| Return Create A Forum - Home | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| Soul of Adoption | |
| https://soulofadoption.createaforum.com | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| ***************************************************** | |
| Return to: The Chatter Box | |
| ***************************************************** | |
| #Post#: 20-------------------------------------------------- | |
| The Stranger | |
| By: Tigger Date: March 2, 2011, 1:03 pm | |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | |
| The Stranger | |
| This is very interesting and not the ending I had expected!!!! | |
| A few years after I was born, my Dad met a stranger who was new | |
| to our small Texas town. From the beginning, Dad was | |
| fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to | |
| live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and | |
| was around from then on. | |
| As I grew up, I never questioned his place in my family. In my | |
| young mind, he had a special niche. My parents were | |
| complementary instructors: Mom taught me good from evil, and Dad | |
| taught me to obey. But the stranger ... he was our storyteller. | |
| He would keep us spellbound for hours on end with adventures, | |
| mysteries and comedies. | |
| If I wanted to know anything about politics, history or science, | |
| he always knew the answers about the past, understood the | |
| present and even seemed able to predict the future! He took my | |
| family to the first major league ball game. He made me laugh, | |
| and he made me cry. The stranger never stopped talking, but | |
| Dad didn't seem to mind. | |
| Sometimes, Mom would get up quietly while the rest of us were | |
| shushing each other to listen to what he had to say, and she | |
| would go to the kitchen for peace and quiet. (I wonder now if | |
| she ever prayed for the stranger to leave.) | |
| Dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions, but the | |
| stranger never felt obligated to honor them. Profanity, for | |
| example, was not allowed in our home ... Not from us, our | |
| friends or any visitors. Our longtime visitor, however, got | |
| away with four-letter words that burned my ears and made my dad | |
| squirm and my mother blush. My Dad didn't permit the liberal | |
| use of alcohol ... But the stranger encouraged us to try it on | |
| a regular basis. He made cigarettes look cool, cigars manly | |
| and pipes distinguished. He talked freely (much too freely!) | |
| about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes | |
| suggestive, and generally embarrassing. | |
| I now know that my early concepts about relationships were | |
| influenced strongly by the stranger. Time after time, he | |
| opposed the values of my parents, yet he was seldom | |
| rebuked... And NEVER asked to leave. | |
| More than fifty years have passed since the stranger moved in | |
| with our family. He has blended right in and is not nearly as | |
| fascinating as he was at first. Still, if you could walk into | |
| my parents' den today, you would still find him sitting over in | |
| his corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch | |
| him draw his pictures. His name?....... | |
| We just call him 'TV.' | |
| (Note: This should be required reading for every household!) | |
| He has a wife now .... We call her 'Computer.' | |
| ***************************************************** |