Reece Gardner: Ready for some inspiration?

Saying hello is so much more pleasant than having to say good bye. I am really looking forward to saying hello to my precious daughter Jessica and her husband, Bob, this week as they come to visit for a few days. A little bit later in today's column I will share some thoughts with you about a “forever hello" which I hope you will find inspirational.

Speaking of inspirational, let's talk about Mohamed Brock, who immigrated to California from Libya with his wife, Dawn. 

They had big dreams and never expected their son to be born with a brittle bone disease. Dawn fostered a few children in their home but, tragically, she died, leaving Mohamed to care for their disabled son alone.  Mohamed knew that there were other parents who had children with disabilities but they were given up for adoption. At any one time there are hundreds of orphaned children with terminal illnesses in Los Angeles. 

Most of the time they die alone in a hospital even if their biological parents are still alive. Mohamed took it upon himself to foster as many children with terminal illnesses as he could, trying to make sure they were loved and g0t to live in a real home before they died. When he was in his 70s, he found out he had cancer and needed to go to the hospital for surgery. 

While he struggled to recover, an in-home nurse cared for the children. Mohamed didn't give up and used every means at his disposal to let these suffering children know they were loved. The situation was looking dire at best, but then his story got on the news and a GoFundMe page was created to help Mohamed and his kids. Thousands of dollars have been donated, bringing help to the children. 

People really do care.

Now for a laugh:  A cowboy who had just moved from Wyoming to Texas walked into a bar and ordered three mugs of beer. He sat in the back of the room, drinking a sip out of each one in turn.

When he finished them he came back to the bar and ordered three more, prompting the bartender to say to him, "You know these would taste better if you bought one at a time."

The cowboy replied, "I have three brothers; one is in Arizona, the other is in Colorado. Whenever we left our home and went our separate ways, we promised we'd drink this way to remember the days when we drank together.

“So I'm drinking one beer for each of my brothers and one for myself." 

He became a regular, drinking the same way with three mugs. One day he ordered only two mugs, and the bartender said, "I want to offer my condolences on your loss." 

The cowboy replied, "Oh no — everybody's just fine. It's just that my wife and I joined the Baptist church and I had to quit drinking.  t hasn't affected my brothers though."

Now let's close with this: After a week's vacation with her daughter and grandson, Kathy had to say goodbye until she could see them again. She wrote to a friend, saying, "Sweet reunions like we just had make my heart long for heaven.

“There, we won't have to try to capture memories in our mind. There, we won't have to pray for the time to go slowly and for the days to last long. There, our hello will never turn into goodbye. Heaven will be a 'Forever Hello." 

Have a wonderful day!