From the Queen of the African Queen...

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A touching story from Katharine Hepburn’s childhood, in her own words.

“Once when I was a teenager, my father and I were standing in line to buy tickets for the circus.

Finally, there was only one other family between us and the ticket counter. This family made a big impression on me.

There were eight children, all probably under the age of 12. The way they were dressed, you could tell they didn't have a lot of money, but their clothes were neat and clean.

The children were well-behaved, all of them standing in line, two-by-two behind their parents, holding hands. They were excitedly jabbering about the clowns, animals, and all the acts they would be seeing that night. By their excitement you could sense they had never been to the circus before. It would be a highlight of their lives.

The father and mother were at the head of the pack standing proud as could be. The mother was holding her husband's hand, looking up at him as if to say, "You're my knight in shining armour." He was smiling and enjoying seeing his family happy.

The ticket lady asked the man how many tickets he wanted? He proudly responded, "I'd like to buy eight children's tickets and two adult tickets, so I can take my family to the circus." The ticket lady stated the price.

The man's wife let go of his hand, her head dropped, the man's lip began to quiver. Then he leaned a little closer and asked, "How much did you say?" The ticket lady again stated the price.

The man didn't have enough money. How was he supposed to turn and tell his eight kids that he didn't have enough money to take them to the circus?

Seeing what was going on, my dad reached into his pocket, pulled out a $20 bill, and then dropped it on the ground. (We were not wealthy in any sense of the word!) My father bent down, picked up the $20 bill, tapped the man on the shoulder and said, "Excuse me, sir, this fell out of your pocket."

The man understood what was going on. He wasn't begging for a handout but certainly appreciated the help in a desperate, heartbreaking and embarrassing situation.

He looked straight into my dad's eyes, took my dad's hand in both of his, squeezed tightly onto the $20 bill, and with his lip quivering and a tear streaming down his cheek, he replied; "Thank you, thank you, sir. This really means a lot to me and my family."

My father and I went back to our car and drove home. The $20 that my dad gave away is what we were going to buy our own tickets with.

Although we didn't get to see the circus that night, we both felt a joy inside us that was far greater than seeing the circus could ever provide.

That day I learnt the value to Give.

The Giver is bigger than the Receiver. If you want to be large, larger than life, learn to Give. Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get - only with what you are expecting to give - which is everything.

The importance of giving, blessing others can never be over emphasised because there's always joy in giving. Learn to make someone happy by acts of giving.”

- Katherine Hepburn
 
I was at Tesco‘s self check out a little while ago. A Mum with two kids was next to me. I’m not nosey so wasn’t aware of what was going on at first, but basically she’d had to call over an assistant to cancel an item she’d got for one of the kids (a packet of Jammie Dodgers!) as she didn’t have enough money.

I took it off the store worker and said “I’ll take those, I scanned them with my stuff and handed them to the rather sad kid and just said “Here you go, you can’t not have Jammie Dodgers mate”.

It wasn’t a big deal, wasn’t a lot of money, but I’m telling you, with the smile on that kids face, and the look on his Mums face, it was all I could do to keep tears out of my eyes !
 
Some years ago I had a Honda CB 350 offered to me for $ 100. sight unseen. I knew the owner very well and the bike was literally buried under hay in the back of his barn and I had to wait until the horses had consumed much of the hay before I could get to it .
I brought it home but had second thoughts about putting money and effort into it so I put it up for sale on Craigslist for $200.
Within an hour I had the phone ringing off the hook and realized I should have asked more . Two people were ready to come and get it but one needed to borrow a trailer. I took the guy’s number and told him a buyer was on the way but if he didn’t show I would call him .
The first buyer showed up - a young man in the military with his younger teenage brother. He just returned from a combat tour in the Middle East and the bike was going to be a project to do with his brother . As he counted out the money he asked why the low price … I said it’s about to get a whole lot lower .
I thanked him for his service and handed the money back along with the title . God bless him and all the others like him .
 
Some years ago I had a Honda CB 350 offered to me for $ 100. The first buyer showed up - a young man in the military with his younger teenage brother. He just returned from a combat tour in the Middle East and the bike was going to be a project to do with his brother .
I thanked him for his service and handed the money back along with the title . God bless him and all the others like him .
Way to go.
 
I don't have much to give but good manners, politeness, friendship when needed and always a helping hand for anyone who needs its or asks for help and I never ask for anything in return, with my mates I always think of them before myself but sometimes it be good to get it returned when I need it, but hey I'm just happy to be there for anyone in need and stick up for anyone who has been done wrong.

Ashley
 
If everyone in the world was like this we wouldn't be where we are today.
I don't expect everyone in the world to be like me, its just the way I am, but get on the bad side of me and you will know it, I have a sting in my tail and don't take crap from no one.
 
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