Welcome

Heart Tales is a monthly newsletter for people on an adventure toward wholeness. It is published by Jim Cyr, storyteller, author, and crisis intervention specialist.

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The Wooden Bowl

John and his young wife, Mary, were excited and glad the day John’s elderly father, Sam, came to live on their small farm. Mary set the table with a fine meal of fresh vegetables and home-baked bread. The couple covered a new bed in an adjoining room with a warm comforter and a soft pillow.

“We hope you’ll be comfortable here,” John said, as he carried his father’s few belongings into the room.

“As long as I have family around me,” Sam said, as he wiped a tear from his eyes, “I will be happy. Perhaps I can help out a bit. I want to be useful.”

“You are welcome to work as you will or rest as you want, Dad,” said John.

The next morning, the old man dressed himself in work clothes and went out to the barn to feed the pigs and chickens. He scooped the chicken feed into a wooden bowl and scattered it about the yard. A smile lit up his face as he watched the rooster strut about.

“Oh, to be young again,” he sighed to himself as he rubbed his stiff hands to ease the pain he felt in his old joints.

Each day the old man did as much as his body would allow. Each night he sat with John and Mary at dinner. He noticed the swelling of Mary’s belly and eagerly looked forward to the day when his first grandchild would be born.

Days turned into weeks and weeks into months and, at last, the child was born. The old man held his tiny grandson with great tenderness. He could see his own son’s face as he gazed with wonder at the tiny eyes that stared back at him.

“Be careful how you hold him,” Mary said. Your hands are trembling.”

The old man had noticed his trembling hands too. The dull pain he felt in his joints had increased and now his hands were betraying him.

“Don’t drop him,” scolded Mary, as she snatched the child away.

The old man began to fail quickly. By the time his grandson, Josh, could sit up by himself, the old man found it harder to cast the feed from the feeding bowl. His hands could not grip a pitch fork. John tried to ignore his father’s aging.

By the time Josh could walk, the old man could no longer stride to the barn. His steps were slow. His back was stooped. He worked as he could but could not accomplish much. Times were hard and John had to let most of  the farm help go. Now he worked from dawn to dusk along with Mary. Grandpa tended Josh but could hardly keep up with him.

One night after a hot and hard day in the fields, John and Mary sat down to a hastily prepared dinner. Josh sat next to his grandpa as Mary placed a large bowl of porridge on the table. “Times have been better,” Mary sighed. “I’m looking forward to some fresh tomatoes and green beans.”

Grandpa tried to ladle some porridge. His hand shook so much that he toppled the bowl onto the dusty floor. “How clumsy!” Mary shouted.

It was more than the old man could bear. He slowly got up and left the table. John ignored the problem and sat silently as Mary grumbled and cleaned up the mess.

Each day the old man’s condition worsened. He began to drool. Mary sat him at a small table in the corner, away from the family as they ate. One night the old man’s trembling hand knocked his porcelain eating bowl off his little table. It landed with a crash and broke on the floor. Mary went out to the barn and got the wooden bowl used for chicken feed. She filled it with food and served the old man another supper. “Now here is one you won’t break,” Mary said.

One day when Josh was older and had learned to speak, Mary and John found him diligently chipping away with a stone at two chunks of wood. “What are you doing?” asked John. “I’m making you each a present!” replied Josh.

“What could it be?” John asked his son with delight.

“I am making the wooden chicken-feed bowls I will give to you and Mama to eat from when you are old,” said Josh.

The boy’s words stunned his father. The future loomed before John, and he saw himself old and forgotten.

When the tears cleared from his eyes, John noticed his frail father sitting alone in the corner. He gathered the old man in his arms and led him to the table and set a place for him with their best dishes. That night as Josh watched, his father fed the old grandpa tenderly with a silver spoon. He handed Mary a cloth napkin, and she gently wiped the old man’s drooling lips.

From that day on, John and Mary treated Sam with the same kindness and respect they hoped to receive from their own son in their elderly years.

Thought to Ponder

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“He who would pass his declining years with honor and comfort, should, when young, consider that he may one day become old, and remember when he is old, that he has once been young.”

Joseph Addison

Your Comments Welcome

Post your comments in the comment box or email them to me at jim@hearttales.net

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What’s on My Desk

Currently, I am reading…

Best Loved Folktales of the World by Joanna Cole, a thick book of classic folktales from all over the world. This book contains all your childhood favorites like “Sleeping Beauty,” “Snow White,” and “Cinderella,” as well as other little known but just as thought provoking tales from every corner of the globe.

Heart Tales News

Upcoming

February 17th - Jim speaks to Senior Citizens about depression at their monthly meeting sponsored by the Dover, NJ recreation department.

March 10th - Jim presents a night of stories and reflections entitled “Forgiveness on the Lenten Journey” at Mount Saint Mary’s House of Prayer in Watchung, NJ.

For more information about either event, or to book Jim to speak or tell stories, call him at 908-294-1822.

Book

My book, The Cracked Pot: Finding Grace in the Cracks of Child Abuse is available at Amazon.com

“This is one man’s true story of the unspeakable things that were done to him as a child and his rocky journey through adulthood to find God, peace AND his true self.”

Blog

If you enjoy this newsletter, check out The Heart Tales Blog at http://hearttales.net/blog. The blog is published every Monday and Thursday. Check out the current series about Ho-ichi the storyteller.

About Jim & Heart Tales

The true spirit of my work is to lead people on a life-changing adventure toward wholeness by connecting their hearts to their true selves, to others, and to God, through stories of healing, wisdom, and faith. My life-changing adventure toward wholeness includes performances of folk and fairy tales, sacred stories, and personal stories, and workshops on how to tell stories in therapeutic settings.

Feedback

“Jim’s storytelling spoke to many of the problems our women face on the road to recovery from addiction and gave them options for handling those problems they had not considered before.”
Helen Raytek, Program Director, Crawford House

“Jim, I want to thank you for your time, efforts, and talents in presenting your Clinical Benefits of Storytelling Workshop. I was very impressed with your professional and fun deliverance of the material and many useful resources and examples. I felt I benefited from it both personally and professionally, and will use what I learned…”
John J. D. Schweska, L.P.C. Assistant Program Director, Mobile Response and Stabilization Services, Catholic Charities, Diocese of Metuchen

“…your newsletter is a wonderful resource, and I hope that many will subscribe to it.”
Dr. Robert Bela Wilhelm, Storyfest Ministry

“…Thank you once again, Jim, for sharing your stories/your story and influencing my healing.”
Eileen