Forwarded Messages

The year was 1761. King Carlos III of Spain, realizing that his country would soon be involved in the Seven Years' War, appointed Juan de Prado as commander-in-chief of Spain's key holding in the Americas: Cuba. Specifically, de Prado was sent to Havana to prepare the city for the inevitable invasion by British forces. The king gave de Prado a task that was of highest priority: fortify La Cabana hill, which overlooked the Morro castle. The Morro protected the Havana harbor; as long as the castle remained in Spanish hands, the city would be unassailable. A year after de Prado's arrival in Havana, the British came. One of their first attacks was on La Cabana. They took the hill easily, for the fortifications had not been made. The city fell soon after, her defenses undermined by de Prado's failure to prepare.

There's a story that tells of a woman who volunteered with the school  district in a large city. Specifically, she was helping tutor children  who were forced to miss school due to illness. One day she was given a  name and a hospital room number, with this written instruction from the  teacher: “We’re studying nouns and adverbs in his class now, and I’d be  grateful if you could help him understand them so he doesn't fall too  far behind.” When the woman arrived at the hospital room, she found a young boy who  had been badly burned that was lying in great pain in the bed.  Overwhelmed by the sight of this boy, all she could do was blurt out,  “I’ve been sent by your school to help you with nouns and adverbs.”  After working with the child for a time, she left feeling foolish. What  good were grammar lessons to a boy in his condition?

Today, I had a terrible day. Everyone was against me. Some days, I get so frustrated with people. Sometimes I wish I didn't have to deal with people at all. They can be so unreasonable. Today was one of those days. Today was "trash day." I took out our trash the night before, but when I pulled out of our driveway, I noticed that our grouchy neighbor had thrown a piece of his trash in our yard, close to our trash can! (But he didn't. The wind blew it over). After dropping the children off at school, I needed to make a left-hand turn into a long line of traffic. I saw one of my friends in line and thought she would let me out in front of her. She saw me, but wouldn't let me out. Some friend she is! (But she didn't see you. She was miles away in her own thoughts).