Personal Story

   The actual song itself is available only in spoken form, as requested by Philip.

Response by John:

The last GEM you heard was called The Happy Journey. And it reminds me, in my own life – and that is what is amazing about these poems and songs by Phil – how much you can relate to yourself.

I can think of a woman I once knew from Japan. This woman traveled from Scotland to Canada to see him. I met a woman from Japan. Her name was Shigiko.

To Be Done

Text To Be Done

Introduction by Philip:

We all have a box or a bag of trinkets, pictures and memories of our lives somewhere.
This song celebrates how precious these memories are.

   The actual song itself is available only in spoken form, as requested by Philip.

John: This is John back in the studio with Reet. I just heard about Reet, did I hear right, that you just went back to college, and you have a degree in college? And what is your degree?

Reet: I have a certification in ASL which is American Sign Language.

John: My understanding is I went to college, 17, 18, 19, graduated at 20. Most people go to college when they are 18 to 20 years old. Are you 20 years old?

Reet: No, John, I’m actually 74.

Hi, my name is Reet, and this is my story called “The Value of Money.”

Hello, everyone. I have a story to share with you today. It is a personal story about my very early years, around actually 4 years old.

Growing up in a small town named Stratford, one of my earliest memories was being allowed to walk, myself, to a nearby grocery store, about 400 feet from our doorstep.

I had all my pennies and a couple nickels saved in my piggy bank.

My horse had her own kitten. The kitten was black and white. Her name was Megan. I only called her Megan when I was mad at her. I used to call her Morgan Mule. I called her Meg for short.

She had her own black and white kitten, and she got skunked. She must have thought it was her kitten.

She was running to me, because I had whistled for her. And she stopped dead in her tracks and wouldn’t move.

I walked down. I thought something had happened. And then I smelled her.

I guess I’ll start from the beginning. I always loved horses growing up.

When I was 17, I got a job. I saved my money and I bought one. She was 11 months old.

She didn’t know how to be a horse, and I didn’t know how to be a rider – we changed though.

Well, 15 years later, my mom was very sick. I worked 2 jobs trying to keep the horse, and keep the family together, because I had to cook and clean.

It broke my heart to have to sell that 15 years old, but I had no problem selling her.

I got $3000 for her and I paid $150.

“Hi hon. How was golf?”
“I was lousy, as always.”
“But how did it feel?”
“It was fabulous being out in this gorgeous weather.”

Sound like a familiar conversation?

We often allow feelings of hopelessness to become our predominant emotion.