A Christmas story about a grandfather and grandchildren, a very special Christmas and the lessons you can learn from it.
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Net Loot News The Marketing Warriors University Special Christmas Issue Editor: Ron McCluskey mailto:editor@netloot.com I know that some of you do not believe in Christmas, but I think you will enjoy this story anyway. It has some great principles that will help you in business. Although I see some real spiritual lessons as well, I will not burden you with those. Happy Holidays, Ron McCluskey
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A Christmas Memory Contact Information
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FEATURE ARTICLE, A Christmas Memory ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'The first thing that I saw was all the string.' ______________
When I was about 5 year old, Grandpa came to visit at Christmas time. I knew we were going to have a good Christmas since he was there. He not only had more money than we did, but he enjoyed buying things for his grandchildren.
My father had just finished college and was working in a hospital pharmacy in the middle of Los Angeles. We were living in a small two bedroom house on Maringo Street. It was a busy 4 lane street - noisy day and night. Not the type of place you would choose to live. But we could not afford anything better.
When I awoke on Christmas morning, I jumped down off the top bunk and poked my head out into the hall. The first thing that I saw was all the string. The second thing that I saw when I looked down the hall into the living room was grandpa. He was sitting on the sofa, looking at me, with that special twinkle in his eye.
Whenever I saw grandpa's eyes twinkle, I knew something was up! Grandpa sometimes wore a tie clasp that was a working model of a bear trap. When kids would run past him, he would try to grab them and then stick one of their fingers in the trap. Sometimes, he would get down on the floor and be the bull for us kids to play bullfight with. He was always good for some laughs.
So, when I saw the string and then grandpa, I knew something special was about to happen. But, it was hard to get to grandpa. You see, the string actually formed a huge maze throughout the house. Once we were able to explore a bit more, we found out that the string also was all over our little back yard, through the trees and bushes.
As it turns out, there was a card on the tree for my brother and me as well as the few cousins who were visiting that year. Attached to each of the cards was the end of a string. Inside the card were directions that said that we each had to follow the string to the end to find our presents!
You can imagine the commotion as all the kids tried to find the end of their string. Sometimes, when the strings would cross, they would be knotted. Then you would have to wait until the owner of the other sting would come along and you could untangle the knot together. Sometimes, I would have to have the help of an older cousin or even grandpa to lift me up to get the string from off of a nail or something else that it was attached to.
Lunch was delayed as we continued to follow our string. After literally hours of winding up my string, I finally found my present in the garage. It was a fire engine that I could actually sit in and push the pedals to make it go. It even had a water tank that I could fill and push a big button to make it squirt the water.
Grandpa had spent all night putting out all that string. You can imaging the fun he had thinking about the commotion that he would be causing the next morning.
I have thought about that Christmas many times since. Whenever there is a goal that seems impossible - Whenever there seem to be 'knots' in the way - Whenever I need the help of others, or someone needs my help.
If you have a goal, the only way that you will reach your goal is to keep your eye on the prize. No matter what 'knots' get in the way, no matter how high you have to reach, you CAN get there. Just follow the path. Don't give up and don't stray from the path. You can do it.
As you enjoy these Holidays, I wish you all the happiness and success that life can bring.
Best wishes,
Ron McCluskey
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About the Author
Ron McCluskey has been publishing online content since 1985 when he ran a BBS on an old Apple IIe and a 300 baud modem. He is now helping new marketers get up and running as well as keeping the rest on the cutting edge.