Debbie – You were just a little girl when I first met your family in Stillwater. Your mom and dad are the greatest and we will never forget them. The way you turned out says a lot about them. Knowing how you become reminds me of the poem. Wishing you a “happy birthday” and have a wonderful celebration.
>The Perfect Heart
>-by Anonymous
>
>One day a young man was standing in the middle of the town
>proclaiming that he had the most beautiful heart in the whole valley.
>A large crowd gathered and they all admired his heart for it was
>perfect. There was not a mark or a flaw in it. Yes, they all agreed
>it truly was the most beautiful heart they had ever seen. The young
>man was very proud and boasted more loudly about his beautiful heart.
>
>Suddenly, an old man appeared at the front of the crowd and
>said, "Why your heart is not nearly as beautiful as mine." The crowd
>and the young man looked at the old man's heart. It was beating
>strongly, but full of scars, it had places where pieces had been
>removed and other pieces put in, but they didn't fit quite right and
>there were several jagged edges. In fact, in some places there were
>deep gouges where whole pieces were missing. The people stared -- how
>can he say his heart is more beautiful, they thought?
>
>The young man looked at the old man's heart and saw its state and
>laughed. "You must be joking," he said. "Compare your heart with
>mine, mine is perfect and yours is a mess of scars and tears." "Yes,"
>said the old man, "yours is perfect looking but I would never trade
>with you. You see, every scar represents a person to whom I have
>given my love - I tear out a piece of my heart and give it to them,
>and often they give me a piece of their heart which fits into the
>empty place in my heart, but because the pieces aren't exact, I have
>some rough edges, which I cherish, because they remind me of the love
>we shared.
>
>Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart away, and the other person
>hasn't returned a piece of his heart to me. These are the empty
>gouges -- giving love is taking a chance. Although these gouges are
>painful, they stay open, reminding me of the love I have for these
>people too, and I hope someday they may return and fill the space I
>have waiting. So now do you see what true beauty is?"
>
>The young man stood silently with tears running down his cheeks. He
>walked up to the old man, reached into his perfect young and
>beautiful heart, and ripped a piece out. He offered it to the old man
>with trembling hands. The old man took his offering, placed it in his
>heart and then took a piece from his old scarred heart and placed it
>in the wound in the young man's heart. It fit, but not perfectly, as
>there were some jagged edges. The young man looked at his heart, not
>perfect anymore but more beautiful than ever, since love from the old
>man's heart flowed into his. They embraced and walked away side by
>side.
Rhoda Hughes
Stillwater, Ok
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