Wisdom From The Mayor Of Palos Verdes

Palos Verdes is a lushly landscaped little scenic community along the California coast. At City Council Meeting after City Council Meeting, its citizens demand services, each of which cost money.

The Gift Of Life

Dear Reader, The following Fable is based upon a real life story:

Herbert was 93 years old and was in the beginning of congestive heart failure. He was frail, and had so little energy that he could barely walk beyond his apartment.

His family, which consisted of his daughter, her daughter and her husband and two early teen sons were with him most evenings and on weekends. And he now had round the clock caregivers who came and went, all of them compassionate Filipino ladies.

In his youth everyone called Herbert "Herbie" and he was often the leader at work and in his personal life, the life of the party. But at 73, Herbert had a massive heart attack and stunned everyone, doctors included when he survived and then recovered.

But now at 93, Herbert's heart was beginning to fail, his breathing was labored and his death would not be far away.

Three years earlier, Margaret, Herbert's wife of 65 years had passed away and not a day went by that he didn't long for her.

But as his family would gather around him, he would sometimes raise his voice to just below a scream, saying "I don't want to die! I want to be here with my family!" However in a private conversation with his daughter, he said "I'm afraid to die."

You Never Know

For more than 200 years, until 1865 slavery was legal and practiced throughout much of the United States. Today's Fable was taken from a real life story:

From his birth on a tobacco plantation James and his mother only had each other, for his father had been sold to another plantation, and James would never meet him.

And being owned as a slave meant either James or his mother could also be sold at any time.

But James' owner Julius Atkins and his wife Agnes liked him so well, that even though it was against the law to educate a slave they educated James with Mrs. Adkins, a former school teacher, serving as his primary teacher.

James not only learned to read and write but to do math as well. And as he had access to the Adkins' library, he became very well read, a real scholar.

He began to have big dreams for what he could do with his life, a life that did not belong to him.

This was why it was illegal to educate slaves, for education could only frustrate them with dreams that could never be fulfilled and it could lead to revolution or to slaves fleeing from their owners.

Yet despite being slaves James and his mother were living relatively well. That is until tragedy struck.

Advice From A Golden Yellow Butterfly

Sunday afternoon as I stood in the warm sunshine among gorgeous roses in bloom, a golden yellow butterfly flew by flitting here and there, absorbing the magnificence of all that surrounded him. As I watched him, the following story presented itself:

Wog The Wonder Dog

Wog The Wonder Dog was the best friend of 5 year old Calvin, who discovered Wog when he first began staying overnight with his grandparents, a kindly old gent named Kent and a lovely lady named Sady.

Rescuing A Lost Soul

"Give me your money," a desperate young man shouted at Oscar as he was about to close up his grocery store for the night. "I've got a gun."

"Don't do this," Oscar replied." You're going to be sorry for this money will never buy you peace or self-respect."

Stunned by the response, the would be robber was unable to utter another word as contradictory emotions swept through his mind. Anger, frustration, sympathy for himself, sympathy for his victim and most of all heartache for what he had stooped to overwhelmed him.

Finally he replied in a soft voice, "I don't know what else to do."

Herbie The Talking Chipmunk

It was 1956 and 10 year old Richie was sitting on the steps of his back porch looking at his baseball cards. Just then a voice chirped up, "Do you think the Dodgers can win the pennant?"