Finding a note on the windshield of your car is rarely a good thing.
A piece of paper under the wiper blade generally ranges from a parking ticket to an annoying flier to a handwritten note that might go something like this:
“People are watching me write this note. They think I am writing down my contact information, because I just backed into your car. I am not.”
Once in a blue moon, someone will leave a piece of paper that brings a smile to the face and a glow to the heart.
New Franklin resident Meveryn Pinder sent me a copy of a note that was placed on the windshield of her daughter’s car while her daughter was working at the Canal Fulton Public Library.
Her daughter saw the slip of paper as she walked out of the building, but stuck it in her purse without reading it, thinking it was an advertisement. When she arrived home and fished it out, she discovered it was anything but.
The writer said he or she had noticed the “U.S. Marines” sticker on her car, as well as the license-plate frame reading, “Mother of a Marine.”
It continued:
I am very thankful that there are still parents in this great country [who] raise their children with such discipline. ...
Ma’am, I was honored to have parked next to your vehicle! You are an absolute blessing from God, as a mother and an American. Please tell your son that I am very grateful for his service and courage.
I pray for all of our military, but I will pray especially for your son. From the depths of my heart, I thank you both. May God bless you, your son and our country.
Sincerely Yours,
A fellow American
As she finished the letter, her eyes overflowed with joy.
Little wonder. At a time when most of us don’t pay much attention to folks in the military unless we have a direct personal connection — “Oh, that’s right; we’re still at war, aren’t we?” — someone took the time to acknowledge the ongoing sacrifice of a mother and her son, a Marine for seven years who currently is stationed in Japan, 6,500 miles from home.
It doesn’t take much effort to write that kind of note. A scrap of paper, a pencil and, what, five minutes, tops? But most of us are so busy — or think we are — that we never even consider it.
Maybe we should. The impact can be enormous.
Mystery solved
Dear Favorite Columnist:
Please help.
New ownership, front office and coaching staff. Yet, like the movie Groundhog Day, the Browns play the exact same football game they have been playing since 1999.
Can you explain this eerie event?
Joe Abraham
Akron
Joe: Yes. The man who founded Cleveland was named Moses Cleaveland. We misspelled his name, so he put a curse on us.
Odd choice
A former employee of Akron City Hall found it highly amusing that Mayor Don Plusquellic would be moderating a particular panel discussion last week at a meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Alabama.
The topic: building tolerance.
Quipped the caller, “Don Plusquellic chairing a conference on tolerance is like Ted Nugent being the speaker at an antigun rally.”
Federal porn
Kathy Dempsey, who lives next to the Portage Lakes, was shocked — but not appalled — when she dialed a toll-free number she found on an official Social Security Administration form.
For the record, it is printed on Page 3 of Form SSA-3105. I wouldn’t have believed it if she hadn’t mailed it to me.
“Be sure to call the Social Security Administration at 1-800-722-.... if you have any questions.”
She had questions. She called. She got a porn line.
The S.S. folks only missed it by one digit — the actual number has a 7 in place of the first 2 — but what a difference a digit can make.
Says Dempsey, “It really livened up my morning. I’m old, not dead.”
Bob Dyer can be reached at 330-996-3580 or bdyer@thebeaconjournal.com.