MAKE TODAY COUNT
I HAVE LEARNED
I have learned to forgive others for real or imaginary and to realize that when I am wronged, it is the other person who really has a problem, not myself.
I have learned the importance of caring and sharing, because of all the Make Today Count people who have been helping others help themselves.
I have learned to not wait until tomorrow to do something I want to do. How many times have you put something away so you can enjoy it later, only to find that "later" never comes?
I have learned the significance of love and found it to be the most valuable asset of all, the only thing that really matter when nothing else is left to us.
Only today, I saw love in the eyes of my wife, Wanda, and it later when Mark, Lori, Britty and Tammy kissed me good night.
It took me so long to admit how difficult is was for me to say, "I love you." Now love comes freely and I am not ashamed or embarrassed to express my emotions for I am more concerned about being human than I am about being "masculine."
I have learned to appreciate the simple beauty of life around me, for I have searched for and found a single violet in the springtime, nestled in the green grass in my backyard, and I have heard the call of a mourning dove on a quiet summer night in Iowa.
I have discovered the meaning of friendship because of how many Make Today Count friends and I realize how important it is to know there is someone who will not run away from you when your life has been touched by tragedy.
I have learned what my faith in God actually means to me and I know I will never again have to walk through the valley alone. He will be with me.
I feel his presence somewhere in the bright morning sunlight and during the darkest hours of a winter night.
He has opened my eyes to a radiant new world. He has touched me, a lone cancer patient, at a time of personal tragedy and has shown me that the road need never end as long as I have the desire to walk or crawl up the next steep hill.
If you are a person living with a life threatening illness, remember that you cannot alter the course of destiny, but you CAN change your own attitudes toward life and death.
You have one lifetime left to live, just as I do. Please don't waste it.
Orville E. Kelly
from
Until Tomorrow Comes
+++I understand Mr. Kelly aways ended his speeches with the following:
A poem written by Orville E. Kelly, to his wife Wanda, Entitled,
Love Will Never Go Away!
Spring, and the land lies fresh-green Beneath a yellow sun. We walked the land together, you and I And never knew what future days would bring. Will you often think of me, When flowers burst forth each year? When the earth begins to grow again? Some say death is so final. But my love for you can never die. Just as the sun once warmed our hearts, Let this love touch you some nite, When I am gone, And loneliness comes--- Before the dawn begins to scatter Your dreams away.
Summer, and I never knew a bird Could sing so sweet and clear, Until they told me I must leave you For awhile. I never knew the sky could be so deep a blue, Until I knew I could not grow old with you. But better to be loved by you, Than to have lived a million summers, And never known your love. Together, let us, you and I Remember the days and nights, For eternity.
Fall, and the earth begins to die, And leaves turn golden-brown upon the trees. Remember me, too, in autumn, for I will walk with you, As of old, along a city sidewalk at evening-time, Though I cannot hold you by the hand.
Winter, and perhaps someday there may be Another fireplace, another room, With crackling fire and fragrant smoke, And turning, suddenly we will be together, And I will hear your laughter and touch your face, And hold you close to me again. But, until then, if loneliness should seek you out, Some winter night, when snow is falling down, Remember, though death has come to me, Love will never go away!
Written by: Author, Orville E. Kelly, of Make Today Count, Until Tomorrow Comes, and Count Down Zero, as well as Founder of the nation wide organizations, Make Today Count & National Association Of Atomic Veterans!
My heartfelt thanks to Mark Kelly for his permission to reprint this.
5-31-00/jr
If Tomorrow Never Comes
This is dedicated to all with Chronic and/or Serious Illness. May God Bless us all and keep us in the palm of his hand.
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