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Friday, July 10, 2009

The Wooden Bowl (Kudos to the 4 yr old)

The Wooden Bowl

I guarantee you will remember the tale of the Wooden Bowl tomorrow, a week from now, a month from now,
a year from now.
A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year-old grandson.
The old man's hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered
The family ate together at the table. But the elderly grandfather's shaky hands and
failing sight made eating difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor.
When he grasped the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth.
The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess.
'We must do something about father,' said the son.
'I've had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the floor.'
So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner.
There, Grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner.
Since Grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl.
When the family glanced in Grandfather's direction, sometimes he had a tear in his eye as he sat alone.
Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork or spilled food.
The four-year-old watched it all in silence.
One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor.
He asked the child sweetly, 'What are you making?' Just as sweetly, the boy responded,
'Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and Mama to eat your food in when I grow up.
' The four-year-old smiled and went back to work.

The words so struck the parents so that they were speechless. Then tears started to stream down their cheeks. Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done.
That evening the husband took Grandfather's hand and gently led him back to the family table.
For the remainder of his days he ate every meal with the family. And for some reason,
neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled.

PLEASE CONTINUE TO NEXT POST FOR MY 55 Thank you.

6 comments:

the walking man said...

he he he he and the wisdom of a child...

steveroni said...

A loving spiritual lesson delivered by a child. So that I may not forget. (But now, I'm the old guy, spilling peas!)

Hale McKay said...

Thanks for the visit to Verbicidal Tendencies and your comments.

I wasn't sure which of your blogs to reply on - I chose this one.

The Wooden Bowl - what a wonderful anecdotal "the things that children say."

It's always nice to come across the blog of another Massachusetts resident.

The above blog was a team blog that I only post to every now and then. My former partner had to resign from it because complications .

My regular blog is a humor site in which I also post original short stories. I hope you get to chance to visit it sometime.

You and your son will be in my prayers.

Hale McKay said...

Hale McKay,

Oops! my regular site is It Occurred To Me .

One Prayer Girl said...

TRUMPETS TRUMPING!
VIOLINS HUMMING!
CYMBALS CLAPPING!

ANNOUNCING YOU, JADEY, THE WINNER OF THE "DUCKLING AWARD".

"Our" ducklings arrived in the wee small hours of Friday morning 7/17/09.
Your guess was 7/16 - that being the closest guess, YOU WIN THE AWARD!

CONGRATULATIONS FROM PRAYER GIRL!!!

COME TO MY BLOG TO PICK UP YOUR AWARD!

Mike Golch said...

That is a powerful message.and to think we can still be taught by what a child says or does.
I came by to say congrats on the duckling award that prayer Girl gave you.