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            It is a fact that we can never really know where we are unless we have an awareness of where we have been.  It is foolish to try to go back and live in the past.  But it is an act of wisdom to remember it, reflect on it, and learn from it.            Any accurate inventory of the past will include some happy memories.  We should hold on to those and carry them with us from one year to the next.  Then when the road gets difficult, as surely it will, we can […]

        A group of retired residents of an institution diplomatically called “A Home for    Senior Citizens” had gathered for an afternoon discussion led by a volunteer from a local university.  Each person was asked to quote a favorite poem or to sing a favorite song and then to comment on the verse or song.  One frail, little lady both began and ended the session when she lifted her hand and repeated part of a familiar line: “Grow old along with me… the best is yet to be.”  No sooner had her voice faded in the air than […]

             When Harry Truman was president of the United States, his daughter, Margaret, was aspiring to a career in opera.  The music critics had written some rather discouraging things about her future in that particular field.  Finally, she went to a specialist for an assessment of her chances of becoming an opera star.  After several days of evaluation, the specialist gave her opinion.  She said to Miss Truman, “You have a beautiful voice.  It is big enough and rich enough for opera.  The problem is with your ear.  And because of your ear, you will never attain greatness.”   […]