Fathers and SonsWritten by Mark Brandenburg MA, CPCC
As a personal coach for men and publisher of a newsletter, I’m sometimes blessed with personal stories from readers that touch my heart. This story sent in from a father helped me to remember why I’m doing what I do. I’d like to share it with you:“As a father of two teens, I've enjoyed your insight on fatherhood. I was raised in a loving family environment, but just as you indicated, my father was primary breadwinner and "backbone" of family, not an emotional type. As a child, I never saw him cry or appear weak, nor did he ever utter words "I love you". It was just not in his vocabulary, though I never doubted his love for any of us. It was not until his last hours on this earth, nearly 9 years ago, that I saw him cry for first time. Suffering from side effects of leukemia, I was visiting him in his hospital room. As I sat on side of his bed feeding him ice chips and jello cubes by spoon, it occurred to me that we had reversed roles. He was no longer caring for my needs, but I was there to help him with a basic need. We talked about things that we'd never discussed previously and as I was preparing to return home to my family for night, I turned to him and said "I love you". He smiled and nodded his approval as I exited his room for last time. Unfortunately, he'd been experiencing internal bleeding, though he never complained or mentioned it to me, and he expired some three hours after I left.
| | Spring Renewal for your Home’s ExteriorWritten by Kathleen Wilson
Come every Spring, we become a little more conscious of way our home looks to all those who pass by. Often times it is out of our budget to repaint, or remodel exterior of your home. Here are some great tight budget tips for dressing up outside of your home with “Creativity, Not Cash!” TM1.Stand out on your sidewalk and take a picture of your home from street. Often times we do not really “see” what is there because we have become so accustomed to it. Take your photo to a copy shop and print out a few copies of it, blown up to fit paper. Now you can spend some time drawing in your wish list for changes…add a fence, draw an arbor over your entrywalk, add planters…and come up with some low cost ways to accomplish it! (Kind of a low cost version of that expensive software) This one step could save you a lot of time, money, and work…not to mention get you to home you want in a much smoother fashion! 2.Consider learning some woodworking skills. With just a little education and a rented saw, you can build arbors and decorative fences for a fraction of what it would cost to have it installed. You can often get free instruction at your local home improvement center. Check out http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/gl_garden_structures/0,1784,HGTV_3588,00.html or http://www.bhg.com/bhg/category.jhtml?categoryid= emplatedata/bhg/category/data/Hie_Basics_Carpentry.xml for some help. Now remember, if you can’t afford to totally fence in your yard, or build a big gazebo, how about just adding a little decorative fences at corners of yard, and a simple decorative gate marking entrance to your yard? It only takes a little to add a whole lot of character. 3. If you already have a concrete drive and walkway, and you find it boring, dress it up by lining it with brick. It doesn’t cost much, and all it takes is a little elbow grease digging a trench to lay brick in alongside walkway, then pack dirt back around them to hold in place…no mortaring necessary for this! Another low cost option? Use porch paint and stamp a brick walkway with a large rectangular sponge. You can use a basketweave pattern, or lay it on diagonal, whatever works for you!
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