[Ohio-Communities-of-Faith] FW: Joy from Sorrow

Sun Dec 26 17:29:10 UTC 2021

From: Larry Perry [mailto:larryperry at performancepress.ccsend.com] On Behalf Of Larry Perry
Sent: Sunday, December 26, 2021 12:10 PM
To: mmoore11 at kent.edu
Subject: EXT: Joy from Sorrow

  <https://r20.rs6.net/on.jsp?ca=27b9187b-acd6-4423-8597-d9002a52b78c&a=1103316066373&c=6f49fc70-74b9-11eb-9d75-fa163e24df6a&ch=6f4b0606-74b9-11eb-9d75-fa163e24df6a> 

Letter from Larry

Sunday

December 26, 2021

Good Sunday Afternoon Everyone:

With Christmas just past and we are looking at the New Year, here is a last

story for you to think about today.

|

“Happy Holidays!” the cheerful Walmart greeter hollered as I breezed

through the automatic doors, an elf hat perched merrily on his head. 

The store was decked out for the season: red garlands strung through

the aisles, displays of twinkling lights and plastic Santas, and directly

in front of the entrance, a big, tall fir tree, its branches hung with 

colorful ornaments.

Christmas was approaching rapidly, and all the shoppers around me 

seemed to be in the spirit. I wished I could be too, but my gift list was

one name shorter than it should have been. Dad was gone, and that 

was all I could think about.

After his doctor diagnosed him with leukemia at the age of 69, he refused

to get down. Up until he took his final breaths, he kept smiling, trying

to keep us upbeat. He knew he was going to a better place, he said,

though he couldn’t imagine any place better than here with us.

“Preston is the happiest person I know,” Dad’s friends often said, and

they were right. I couldn’t remember a time when there wasn’t a smile

on his face. It came from his generous and giving spirit–he got joy out 

of helping others, even if he sacrificed some things himself. He had 

a deep faith in God, and believed the best about people.

Pushing my shopping cart past the greeter and looking down at my list, 

it was all I could do to keep my composure. I always loved buying

gifts for Dad. He got so excited at the shirt or shoes I’d picked out for

him. I’d never have that joy again.

I paused in front of the Christmas tree. White tags hung from the branches

in between the ornaments. One of those “Angel Trees,” I thought. 

Shoppers could choose a tag and buy a gift for a child of an inmate, 

something like that. I started to walk on.

The sign in front caught my eye. “Be a Santa for a Senior.” Huh? I’d never

heard of that program. I stopped. Before I knew what I was doing, I 

reached out and grabbed a tag:

Gift: shirt, size XL; pants, waist 42; and shoes or socks, size 12 – 12 ½.

Senior name: Preston. 

I whipped my cart around and headed to Men’s Clothing. I had a gift

to buy, for a senior with the same name as my dad–and the same size too!

******

May God bless you and yours. Much love.

Larry

NOTE: This letter is sent to anyone interested in receiving these inspirational notes. There is no charge and you are encouraged to forward these to anyone you think would benefit from reading them. If you would like to receive them direct, just send an email to me at larryperry at att.net and ask.

  <https://imgssl.constantcontact.com/letters/images/sys/S.gif> 

  <https://imgssl.constantcontact.com/letters/images/sys/S.gif> 

Performance Press | 11464 Saga Lane, Knoxville, TN 37931 

 <https://visitor.constantcontact.com/do?p=un&m=001sN5pmngK0k9o3NqMiSj7fA%3D&ch=6f4b0606-74b9-11eb-9d75-fa163e24df6a&ca=27b9187b-acd6-4423-8597-d9002a52b78c> Unsubscribe mmoore11 at kent.edu 

 <https://visitor.constantcontact.com/do?p=oo&m=001sN5pmngK0k9o3NqMiSj7fA%3D&ch=6f4b0606-74b9-11eb-9d75-fa163e24df6a&ca=27b9187b-acd6-4423-8597-d9002a52b78c> Update Profile |  <https://www.constantcontact.com/legal/customer-contact-data-notice> Constant Contact Data Notice 

Sent by  <mailto:larryperry at att.net> larryperry at att.net powered by 

 <http://www.constantcontact.com/index.jsp?cc=nge&rmc=VF21_3GE&pn=ROVING&nav=27b9187b-acd6-4423-8597-d9002a52b78c> Trusted Email from Constant Contact - Try it FREE today.

 <http://www.constantcontact.com/index.jsp?cc=nge&rmc=VF21_3GE&pn=ROVING&nav=27b9187b-acd6-4423-8597-d9002a52b78c> Try email marketing for free today! 

CAUTION: EXTERNAL SENDER Do not click any links, open any attachments, or REPLY to the message unless you trust the sender and know the content is safe. 

-- 
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/ohio-communities-of-faith_nfbnet.org/attachments/20211226/fc467da9/attachment.html>