Tag Archives: Quote

Sophie’s Choice

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Making a choice in cutting off ties in any situation is difficult when it’s a no-win situation, an unbearable option that one is forced to choose. Even thinking that it is the lesser of two evils, it can still remain … Continue reading →

This story has a picture

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Tell me a story is what I say instead of “Hi, how are you?” My friend finally understood what I mean and how important story telling is when he attended the Toastmaster International 2017 held in Vancouver last week. Toastmaster is … Continue reading →

Ecstasy at our feet.

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These feet will take us wherever they want to go. Passengers from the hydrofoil are rushing to plant their feet on the ground of Estonia after a two-hour sail from Finland, 2,000 of them more or less. As pilgrims, our feet … Continue reading →

A Certain Smile

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Joshua Edward Siglos

Joshua Edward Spackman Siglos

Do you smile to tempt a lover, Mona Lisa?
Or is this your way to hide a broken heart?
Many dreams have been brought to your doorstep
They just lie there and they die there

Last night, my family and I were looking at Josh’s photo and I said, he has that certain smile. A Mona Lisa’s smile.

Is his smile happy or sad? I would like to think that his smile is unequivocally happy. It’s not rocket science. Being surrounded by his family loving him to bits and unconditionally, of course, he is happy.

Even his eyes, the eyes will follow us no matter where we are in the room. A gaze that will make you wonder, what is he thinking? Again, happy or crappy thoughts? His thought is brilliant, a gifted mind.

We wish he is here with us to ask him: Hey Josh, what do you think of your photo? What is the meaning of your smile?

The answer will remain a mystery, more mysterious than Mona Lisa.

Josh Siglos died at a young age of 31 on April 28, 2017.

To Earth, with gratitude

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Earth We belong to Earth, Take care of it. We must! Meanwhile, somewhere in Canada, in Burnaby to be precise, we are celebrating. I contributed some of the photos I shared in WP taken in my backyard. The small space … Continue reading →

Good vs. evil: The answer is found in Easter itself

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It’s God’s gift that enables peace. The supernatural message of Easter is that Jesus overcomes death, and when people believe that and act upon it, it changes the headlines. Spiritual beliefs change how people respond to evil. The bloody cross … Continue reading →

Write! Write! Write! – Talk! Talk! Talk!

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Talking and writing are great partners in celebrating life. It’s an antidote for depression. Just take a look at this recent discovery exchange of words between one depressed person to another: I talk to anybody on the street more than … Continue reading →

The Gift of Prayer

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We have just finished our third night of prayer for our dearly beloved, Lorena when her sister’s mother-in-law followed Lorena’s footsteps. Now, we have to remember the mother-in-law in our prayers as well. Tonight will be the sixth evening that is extra … Continue reading →

Out of Solitude

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As she looked at her own face in the mirror, she suddenly recalled the sorrowful widow. It was at that moment that she wrote the opening lines of “Solitude“.
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Laugh, and the world laughs with you;
Weep, and you weep alone;
For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth,
But has trouble enough of its own. ~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox

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In giving shape my view of the world having a solitary person in the foreground suggests that it is okay to be alone but not lonely.

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All work and no rest makes a man boring. Rest he did in his three-wheeler taxi cab. Who needs money when one is too tired to enjoy life. When he wakes up from his solitude, life becomes bearable again.

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And what on earth is he doing down there alone? Fishing! Men prefer to reel a fish similar to playing golf, alone. So why do men enjoy fishing alone?  Because the fish are bigger and the stories are better with no witnesses!

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In a crowd of a million tourist, he just have to sit down with a non-verbal companion. Maybe he had enough listening, blah-blah-blah. Or maybe he is just like me observing how silly tourist really are. Or maybe he left his wife in a store shopping. Or maybe…

Ah, solitude, such sweet surrender.

Hey – Did you hear? So, rumor has it that…

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If you are going to spread rumor, make it good that it will benefit others. You can quote me on that. This was the gist of my short talk about Occupational Health and Safety at our General Membership meeting . … Continue reading →

Feeling Good

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I’ve never read the book Anne of Green Gable written by L. M. Montgomery, a Canadian writer. The book is supposed to be a classic literature. Curiosity took over me and I came across with Chapter 5: Anne’s History. “Well, … Continue reading →

At the end of the day, I just want to be a cat

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Oh, there were resolutions to keep a low profile to pace myself to take it easy, because nothing is so important anyway but yesterday there was an inertia that got out of hand like a rolling thunder and good people … Continue reading →

What lies ahead without Fidel

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The earth expanding right hand and left hand, The picture alive, every part in its best light, The music falling in where it is wanted, and stopping where it is not wanted, The cheerful voice of the public road, the … Continue reading →

In Search of Advent at the Quay

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The parade just started when I got off the SkyTrain station at the Quay. Motorcades with signs ‘Season’s Greetings’, ‘Dream, Live, Celebrate’, ‘Merry Xmas’, ‘Only Santa delivers more’ drove carrying Gingerbread Man, Frosty the Snow Man, Rudolph the Red Nose … Continue reading →

Misch: Dog on the window is not for sale

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What is there to be thankful on a Black Friday when the focus is on shopping? Sale. Sale, Sale. Signs on the windows displayed 20 to 70 percent mark down. With the discounted prices still the sale is expensive since … Continue reading →

Life is Priceless

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Priceless

When you surrender,
the problem ceases to exist.
Try to solve it, or conquer it,
and you only set up more resistance.
I am very certain now that,
as I said therein,
if I truly become what I wish to be,
the burden will fall away.
The most difficult thing to admit,
and to realize with one’s whole being,
is that you alone control nothing.

— Henry Miller, A Literate Passion: Letters of Anais Nin & Henry Miller, 1932-1953. (Mariner Books,1989) Originally published 1945.

Thank you, David for your response in It’s been a long day.

…anyway. One tough act to follow.

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This is the original version of Mother Teresa’s “Do it anyway” posted here written by Dr. Kent M. Keith. It is surprising to know that it was part of booklet for student leaders. Mother Teresa’s was re-written for spiritual purposes. In the real world, this is … Continue reading →

The Giver and The Receiver

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For two years, I’ve waited when the birds will return. Lo and behold, I heard chirping and saw this little guy checking our the bird house. Who is more jubilant? Needless to say, me! Trying so many ways to give nature … Continue reading →

Happy Feet

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The March of the Penguins brings me to an animated movie Happy Feet 2 where they danced to the music of The Lord of the Dance written by Sydney Carter. It was at the Vancouver Aquarium I saw penguins for the first … Continue reading →

Seasons in the sun

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I love the sun. I want to catch it, if I could, keep it for myself. As I was about to reach out for it, a boy races towards the sun, beckoning to come along to play with him. Soon … Continue reading →

Sense of Wonder

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Do you know that we are just like cats that get scared easily, fearful? So be careful. All we need is love. Yesterday, I attended a conference in renewing my sense of wonder by bringing together theological, psychological and spiritual awareness … Continue reading →

My, my, how much we have changed.

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It’s interesting to see how pets are ‘dressed up’ when there are so many people divesting themselves. It’s unfathomable how we change the nature of animals and ignore humans that need clothing. “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast … Continue reading →

* Haiku – all you are

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It’s Nurturing Thursday.
I decided to join Becca Givens and I think you should, too, without invitation
https://beccagivens.wordpress.com/2015/08/06/nurturing-thurs-ride-the-waves/

Val is good enough to give me a tug by ‘liking’ one of the comments I posted in a blog.

Her site happens to be very nurturing in helping us to “Find Your Middle Ground”

Here’s to us and let us encourage one another by nurturing uplifting post.

Find Your Middle Ground

girl walking on her path

~

Become all You are

Let go of roles and pleasing

Find Your Middle Ground

~

If you are new to this site, welcome!

Please explore more about finding your middle ground by clicking here.

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First Thing First

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Denzel Washington recently gave the Commencement Address at Dillard University in New Orleans. He broke his speech into four takeaways for the new graduates: Put God first: “Everything that I have is by the grace of God, understand that. It’s … Continue reading →

Think Happy Thoughts

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Today, someone sent me this note: “Think happy thoughts and good things will happen.”

It came at a time when the world around me is crumbling down. I am fine but not the people who I care about. I wish I can share the value of thinking positively that nothing is over until the fat lady sings.

It does take a lot of imagination to think happy thoughts. In order for me to see it vividly in my mind, there are several wallpaper on my computer to ignite and to tickle my funny brain.

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Source: SoundingSoul Photography – Maria Vanesa Acuto

I can still remember the lady who took this photo. She has a very warm heart in doing volunteer work for SPCA.

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The color of the hummingbird is effervescent and glitters as I hurriedly took a shot of it before it flew away.

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And I am throwing this in to make everyone smile.

“Vivid is limited only by your imagination.”

In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “Vivid.”

On any given day, give thanks.

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When it comes to gardening, I prefer to start from seeds. It reminds me of conception to birth. The seeds are the eggs and the sperms are a mixture of good potting soil mixed with mushroom manure saturated further with … Continue reading →

Felines are taking over.

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Felines are taking over. Today New York, tomorrow the world. Move over Humans of New York. I must confess that I look at felines more than anything else on the internet. For me, it’s the best way to decompress after … Continue reading →

Proverbs

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WisdomA 1st grade school teacher had twenty-six students in her class. She presented each child in her classroom the 1st half of a well-known proverb and asked them to come up with the remainder of the proverb.

It’s hard to believe these were actually done by first graders. Their insight may surprise you. While reading, keep in mind that these are first-graders, 6-year-olds, because the last one is a classic!

  • Don’t change horses …until they stop running.
  • Strike while the …bug is close.
  • It’s always darkest before …Daylight Saving Time.
  • Never underestimate the power of …termites.
  • You can lead a horse to water but …How?
  • Don’t bite the hand that …looks dirty.
  • No news is …impossible.
  • A miss is as good as a …Mr.
  • You can’t teach an old dog new …Math.
  • If you lie down with dogs, you’ll …stink in the morning.
  • Love all, trust …Me.
  • The pen is mightier than the …pigs.
  • An idle mind is …the best way to relax.
  • Where there’s smoke there’s …pollution.
  • Happy the bride who …gets all the presents.
  • A penny saved is …not much.
  • Two’s company, three’s …the Musketeers.
  • Don’t put off till tomorrow what …you put on to go to bed.
  • Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and …You have to blow your nose.
  • There are none so blind as …Stevie Wonder.
  • Children should be seen and not …spanked or grounded.
  • If at first you don’t succeed …get new batteries.
  • You get out of something only what you …See in the picture on the box.
  • When the blind lead the blind …get out of the way.
  • A bird in the hand …is going to poop on you.

And the WINNER and last one!

  • Better late than … Pregnant!

Hat tip: Weezie
Image Credit: Love, Live and Laugh
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Quote and Unquote

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Focus_ThingsThatMatterA little thought on ‘today’

No matter if it’s a Monday or a Thursday,
a new month or the middle of it,
or the 1st of January or the 8th of February.
Any ‘today’ will give you the same opportunities
as these stated ‘start-over-days’ will do
– it’s just a matter of how welcoming we are
towards the concept of today.
Also how much we actually allow
ourselves to live in ‘the now’.

via A little thought on ‘today’.

Sketch: Carl Richards

I want, I want, I want

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We are put here for a little space
that we may learn
how to bear the beams of love.
…..William Blake

Think about this:

“What is it you seek?” asked the Master of a scholar who came to him for guidance.

“Life,” was the reply.

“If you are to live, words must die.” Said the Master.

When asked later what he meant, he said, “You are lost and forlorn because you dwell in a world of words. You feed on words, you are satisfied with words when what you need is substance. A menu will not satisfy your hunger. A formula will not slake your thirst.”   ~ Anthony de Mello, SJ

Credits on William Blake from:
Image from Todo El Oro Del Mundo
Qoute from Make Believe Boutique

No need to pretend

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holy fool

When you are a “holy fool” you’ve stopped trying to look like something more than you really are. That’s when you know, as you eventually have to know, that we are all naked underneath our clothes, and we don’t need to pretend to be better than we are.

I am who I am, who I am, who I am; and that creation, for some unbelievable reason, is who God loves, precisely in its uniqueness.

My true identity and my deepest freedom comes from God’s infinite love for me, not from what people think of me or say about me. Both the people who praise me and those who hate me are usually doing it for the wrong reasons.

Adapted from Franciscan Mysticism (an unpublished talk) Richard Rohr

Gateway to Silence:
I am who I am in the eyes of God, nothing more and nothing less.

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

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“The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries or the way she combs her hair.”

Audrey Hepburn

Audrey Hepburn

I chopped my hair before I left for India. Short, very short. From long to short. Quite an extreme.

Nope, this is not me. But someone just addressed me Audrey Hepburn.  Flattery will take you nowhere.

Note to self: must dye hair, maybe.

Strong Self-Determination.

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“It’s probably not just by chance that I’m alone.  It would be very hard for a man to live with me, unless he’s terribly strong.   And if he’s stronger than I, I’m the one who can’t live with him.  … I’m neither smart nor stupid, but I don’t think I’m a run-of-the-mill person.  I’ve been in business without being a businesswoman, I’ve loved without being a woman made only for love.  The two men I’ve loved, I think, will remember me, on earth or in heaven, because men always remember a woman who caused them concern and uneasiness.   I’ve done my best, in regard to people and to life, without precepts, but with a taste for justice.”   ―     Coco Chanel

I’ve watched the life story of CoCo Chanel and I find her story remarkable. She swam against the current  of adversity in a man’s world. When you have a chance, I highly recommend the film.

Thank you, Deo for  the quote. Visit Deo’s site for more.

via Favorite Quotes on Strong Self-Determination..

Transformation: Way of Life

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Tri-angle hands of women

May I see what I do.
May I do it differently.
May I make this a way of life.

 

The story behind the prayer Let the discomfort begin with me.
Contributor: Courtney E. Martin
Via: On Being with Krista Tippett

Four Corner Angle

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“I love my stories being multi-layered, and coming at it from different angles so that you don’t understand the film’s true emotional motivation until the very end.” ~  M. Night Shyamalan

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Look up north, look down south
Look west and look east
The street is lined with colour
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The City of Vancouver created a permanent rainbow-coloured crosswalk in Davie Street village to cover all angles in celebrating city’s gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and queer communities. This area is LGBTQ friendly.

Waiting in silence

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"In the Dark" ~ Thanksgiving 2014

“In the Dark” ~ Thanksgiving 2014

The true contemplative is
not one who prepares his mind
for a particular message that he
wants or expects to hear,
but is one who remains empty
because he knows that he can never
expect to anticipate the words
that will transform his
darkness into light.
He does not demand
light instead of darkness.
He waits on the Word of God
in silence,
and when he is “answered,”
it is not so much by a word
that burst into his silence.
It is by his silence itself,
suddenly, inexplicably
revealing itself to him as
a word of great power,
full of the voice of God.
Thomas Merton from Dialogues with Silence
Source: Parabola Fall 2004 page 71

Keep Writing

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Doubts pushed me into drawing up a list, “Eleven Thoughts on Rejection Dejection,” responses to questions one side of me was asking the other. I admit the weary voice of continuance half hoped retreat would prevail:

  • A real writer perseveres—he cannot do otherwise.
  • The only effective escape lies in more writing.
  • Cease evaluating and just write.
  • If first you don’t succeed, write, write again.
  • Better to fail than walk away haunted.
  • How much do you respect failure?
  • What else is really worth doing that you could do?
  • Write until you prove unequivocally that you can’t.
  • Try quitting to see how you like it.
  • Write your best today and the hell with tomorrow.
  • To keep writing is to live in hope and possibility.

Source: “A Guy in a Metal Suicide-Box,” chapter six of Writing Blue Highways, is reprinted here by permission from the University of Missouri Press and the author via Talking Writing.

What compels me to write.
Well, first and foremost, an old quote from a wise friend: “A paper refuses no ink.” Secondly, it’s a very long list of stories of in between times.

Now, what compels you to write?

Quote and UnQuote

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The human soul is hungry for beauty;
we seek it everywhere,
in landscape, music, art, clothes,
furniture, gardening, companionship,
love, religion, and in ourselves.
No one would desire not to be beautiful.
When we experience the beautiful,
there is a sense of homecoming.

~John O’Donohue

via beauty & the quantum leap.

This quote came from Make Believe Boutique, a site that will make you feel good and beautiful especially the part “when the angels come.” Visit and enjoy.

Autumn of Life

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The autumn leaves can dazzle us with their magnificent colors: deep red, purple, yellow, gold, bronze, in countless variations and combinations. Then, shortly after having shown their unspeakable beauty, they fall to the ground and die. The barren trees remind … Continue reading →

Signs and Wonders

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Spirit GardenGod uses loneliness
to teach us about
living together.

Sometimes he uses anger
so that we can understand
the infinite value of peace.

At other times he uses tedium,
when he wants to show us
the importance of adventure
and leaving things behind.

God uses silence
to teach us about the
responsibility of what we say.

At times he uses fatigue
so that we can understand
the value of waking up.

At other times he uses sickness
to show us
the importance of health.

God uses fire
to teach us
about water.

Sometimes he uses earth
so that we can understand
the value of air.

And at times he uses death
when he wants to show us
the importance of life.

Read the signs.

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Waking from a dream.

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thomas merton

In March in 1958, the famous Christian monk Thomas Merton suddenly awakened. He recorded it this way in his journal:

“Yesterday, in Louisville, at the corner of 4th and Walnut, suddenly realized that I loved all the people and that none of them were, or, could be totally alien to me. As if waking from a dream—the dream of my separateness, of the ‘special’ vocation to be different….Thank God! Thank God! I am only another member of the human race, like all the rest of them. I have the immense joy of being a man!….”

Imagine having a transcendental experience that all you feel is love, that all people are “beautiful” and that everything is light. The feeling of euphoria stays for the longest time. It feels good and it feels unreal at the same time. You wanted your old self again and yet how do you do it when you don’t even know how you came to this state of mind.  No, there is no hallucination. No, there is no mental illness.  It was more of a spiritual emergence.

To come back to your previous disposition before is a blessing. Thank God, indeed.

To keep things in perspective.

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The Village

(4) You can walk outside and feel the breeze through your hair and the sun’s warmth on your skin.

(7) You awoke this morning with a roof over your head.

(18) You have access to the Internet.

(19) You can read.

The truth is, you’re doing better than a lot of people in this world.  So remember to be grateful for all the things you do have.

“True wealth is the ability to fully experience life. -Henry David Thoreau”

 

Source: You are doing better than you think.

Life is but an instant

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“My life is but an instant, an hour that passes by;
To love you, my dearest God, I only have today.”
Yourshotmeetup

Our Thanksgiving Prayer

I am grateful to be alive, Lord. I’m breathing.

Time passes quickly, and I forget that all life is gift from You Who are breathing me into life moment by moment. Help me to be present in the sacrament of each moment – to where You are with me right now.

I am grateful to you for every moment of life You give me.

Source: Little Flower

One Minute Tribute

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“Please, don’t worry so much. Because in the end, none of us have very long on this Earth. Life is fleeting. And if you’re ever distressed, cast your eyes to the summer sky when the stars are strung across the velvety night. And when a shooting star streaks through the blackness, turning night into day… make a wish and think of me. Make your life spectacular. I know I did.”

via Huff Post [h/t Popsugar]

Note from the thief: Lesson Learned

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An anonymous thief placed a note on a children's bike they stole on Canada Day in an attempt to return the bike with its rightful owner. (Photo: Facebook)

An anonymous thief placed a note on a child’s bike he stole it on Canada Day in an attempt to return the bike with its rightful owner. (Photo: Facebook)  Source: Metronews

A Prince George boy is beaming after his bike was returned with an apologetic note two days after an anonymous thief took it for a drunken Canada Day joyride.

“Dear little boy or girl,

First and foremost, I am sorry for any grief I have caused in the last couple of days but I am now trying to return your bike to the proper home where it belongs.

You see, I stole your bike the other night purely out of selfish convenience and due to my state of inebriation, I cannot recall exactly which house it was in the vicinity of this neighborhood.

I think the lesson to be learned here is that you should NEVER leave your bike out in plain view where drunken fools like myself can easily snatch it for a quick (and surprisingly fun) ride home.

Sincerely,
Anonymous Bike Thief”

Mother’s response:
“Dear anonymous bike thief,” she wrote. “Thank you for your attempt at making it right. My son has been miserable since he discovered his bike missing. Thanks! A soon to be happy boy’s mama.”

Source: Metronews