Random Acts of Love

For everyone of us that succeeds, its because there's somebody out there to show you the way out ~ Oprah Winfrey

In Ashland every Wednesday under a tree in Lithia Park, you will find three very large boxes filled with random items. Everything from diapers to toothbrushes; shampoo to clothing; phone cards and food. These have been left for the homeless. They know it's there. If they need something they can take it. If they have something to leave behind they do. They are never greedy and like the Buddhists who left the boxes behind they share with love.

History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people. ~ Martin Luther King

49er truck stop in Sacramento, California offers sanctuary to the homeless every night. There are no beds, but there is hot food and a place out of the cold or heat.

Let everyone regulate his conduct by the golden rule of doing to others as in similar circumstances we would have them do to us and the path of duty will be clear before him ~ William Wilberforce

A little second grade boy runs in slow motion so the little girl with Downs Syndrome can 'tag' him during recess.

I am the conscience of all those who knew something, but did nothing ~ Oskar Schindler

A teenager gives his brand new Christmas coat to the homeless person and doesn't stick around long enough to hear the words 'thank you.'

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness

For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people

For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry

For beautiful hair, let a child run his fingers through it once a day

For poise, walk with the knowledge you'll never walk alone

~Audrey Hepburn~

An elderly couple leaves behind a $100 tip for their harried waitress. Their bill came to $1.49

I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented ~ Elie Wiesel

A homeless man puts down his sign asking for help, to offer it to a woman with a stalled vehicle.

Life's most persistent and urgent question is, "What are you doing for others?" ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

A six year old gives up her favorite 'Hello Kitty' lunchbox to the homeless man because his sign says he hasn't eaten in days.

The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do. the hard part is doing it. ~ General H. Norman Schwarzkopf ~

Manna from heaven continues to come to us daily from unknown angels who offer random acts of love:

In Tacoma, the homeless pooled their pennies nickels and dimes together and proudly presented us with a gift of $37.00. They were thankful for what we are doing. We were thankful for this act of kindness and generosity that come from those who have nothing to begin with.

In every town we have passed through the YMCA's have offered us free showers instead of charging the traditional $2.00 per person. They we honored that we came to them. We were honored by their simple act of kindness.

In Olympia the mechanic repaired our broken van for much less than he could have because he believed in what we are doing.

In Grants Pass the manager at Denny's made sure we were well taken care of by personally serving us. He has never charged us for our final meal. He believed in what we are doing.

In Portland we were given a standing ovation from more than 100 homeless men and were honored when they and 47 homeless women joined us in our walk through my hometown.

In Redding, someone gave us a small coin purse. It was filled with $30.00 in golden dollars. I carry that small purse everywhere.

Two days ago we were given an envelope in Sacramento and told it held a bit of gas money. Inside was a $100 bill.

We pay $59.99 per month for our wireless Internet service to be able to blog. We weren't told that there was a 5 gigabyte limit to how much we can use that service and our bill had an unexpected $57.63 charge we can't afford.

I spoke to a supervisor named Angie to tell her what we were doing and explained that we couldn't afford this charge each month. How much would it cost to upgrade to 10 gigabytes. $250 per month. I thanked her and told her it was something we couldn't do, we would just have to watch our usage. She asked if I could hold on for a moment. She came back 11 minutes later with an incredible surprise.

Unlimited usage is not something Sprint provides but because we are trying to make difference, they are giving us just that. The supervisors supervisor was able to override the system and now we are receiving unlimited usage which if offered to the public would be at over $500 per month.

Manna from heaven comes in random acts of love every day.

A man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies and became the ransom for the world. It was a perfect act. ~ Gandhi~

What will your random act of love be today?

www.change-for-life.org

Dino Was a Hit Today

Last year at this time, 96 degree weather prevailed. Not today! It surely wasn't something we were expecting on the 22nd of May. It wasn't even something we were prepared for. In fact we had given away our down filled comforter almost 10 days ago, so when we woke to cold noses, frozen toes, and morning breath that was seen before it was smelt, we knew our actions had probably been premature.

We had been thinking that with the 70 plus degree we had been in while in Portland, and our upcoming trip south, the heavy bedding would no longer be needed. We were wrong. To the surprise of many of us today, plans were changed, reservations cancelled and the best was made of a "sticky" situation. With eyebrows raised, we donned sweaters, bathrobes and extra socks to frolic in the newly fallen white blanket of snow.

A bit too old and to creaky to make snow angels, we explored trails and pathways that led us to a North Pole here in southern Oregon. Breathing in crisp clean air with the scent of ice had us reminiscing of childhoods past and for the first time in a while we had belly laughs of fun.

With the heater turned on full blast, and hot chocolate warm in our tummy's, we drove away from our late spring wonderland with smiles on our faces, pictures in the camera and the immortal words of Dean Martin embedded in our minds.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow.

Lexi and Rocky Balboa

At 12 years old, I was the hero of Victoria Lane. The one all the other kids followed, not because I was beautiful, since I am very plain. Not because I was smart, for although I have a fairly high IQ, I was also dyslexic and ADHD which therefore made for not so smart choices. I was the leader because I was afraid of nothing.

I was always the tom boy of the family. The son my father never had. Even though I am sure I owned them, I don't remember ever playing with Barbie's. Give me a Tonka truck any time and I am a happy camper. Although I did not excel in sports, I loved them just the same and could never understand why girls could not participate in football, basketball and hockey.

While the gang wanted to go rowing in the Greenwich pond, I was the one who manned the oar, flexing my rippling mosquito sized muscles. I was the envy of the block including the boys. I told the best ghost stories so of course I was invited to all the slumber parties where no slumbering was done simply because I had scared the bejebeez out of them all, and left them quivering in their Bobby Sherman pajamas.

I loved a good challenge and was never one to walk away from a dare, even at the detriment of my own well being. I dare you to swallow a live ant. Done. I dare you to swipe the new David Cassidy album. Done. I dare you to punch Jamie Andrews in the nose. Done. I dare you to tell Mrs. Johnson the science teacher that she needed to go on a diet. I dare you to skip school. I dare you to run away from home. I dare you to drink the entire pint of Apricot Brandy. Id are you to play chicken in your brand new Cougar XR7 convertible. All done. No questions asked.

My unspoken mantra had always been "Do not tell me I can not do it because I will prove you wrong." To my recollection, there have only been two challenges I have not been able to conquer in my life time. One was walking to the top of Multnomah Falls in Oregon.

Did I ever tell you about how we came to Oregon? I think maybe I did, but in case not, let me tell you now. My kids and I wanted a change. We had been in California for a long time and were wanting something a bit more rural. How do we choose from the thousands upon thousands of cities in the US? There was only one way that I knew of. Put a map up of the US and throw a dart. We have been Oregonians since 1992.

My family and I have done a lot of exploring here in Oregon. We call these explores 'God trips.' We never really knew where we were going to end up, we just in the car and went.
One of our God trips led us to the discovery of Mutlnomah falls. We never even knew of their existence until by happenstance we came upon the cascading wonders after 5 hours of 'turn right here mom...turn left here...let's try this street.' We did the touristy thing and of course took in the surrounding falls but the falls and the lodge were what caught our attention the most. We all wanted to climb to the top.

My children's steps were brisk and they often backtracked to see if I were still coming. Being 150 pounds overweight, my steps were a bit more gingerly, and sadly I only made it half way to the overlook bridge. The crest would have to wait for another day or perhaps decade.

Flash forward 18 years. My granddaughter Lexi and I went on a God trip this past Monday and ended up at Multnomah falls. I had been training for this upcoming long explore of mine and was feeling a bit cocky. We made it to the bridge with no problems. Not only did I not huff and puff, but we carried on a conversation the entire way! We both looked at the sign that explained the top of the falls was only a meager mile away. Onward and Upward.

Upward being the key word here, neither of us had any clue that the 'mere' was actually one and a quarter mile straight up!!! Lexi, being my biggest fan was a valiant and true cheerleader. As I got stopped every so often to rest my tetchy knees, she cheered me on. "You can do it Grandma. It's only a little farther."

Drenched from the unexpected snow, sleet and torrential rains, 18 years after my first attempt failed, Lexi did her best Rocky balboa dance of victory as we stood on the deck that overlooked the surging water below us. Although we were teeth chattering frozen, soaked to the skin and exhausted, we were elated that WE DID IT!!!

We had a celebratory cup of hot cocoa in the dining room overlooking the beast we had just dominated. We chatted excitedly about our next victory and were both saddened by the fact that for the first time in her 13 years we would be separated for some time. Four months is a long time to a 13 years old and to this 54 year old as well. Although she is not able to make this trek with me, I know she will walk each step in spirit.

The other challenge I can't conquer. Do not do anything to bring attention to the McPherson name. Well...we all know how that one turned out didn't we?

By the way. I surprised Lexi yesterday when I told her that I had arranged for her to fly out and walk from San Diego to Tijuana. It will be awesome to do the Rocky Balboa dance of victory together. Da da da da da da da daaahhh. Da da da da da da da daaahhh. Da da daaahhh. Da da daaahhh.