bowtwi

Reminds me of that cult called I AM. Tacky. Any bets on how many innies become outties over refusing to hang this one on their living room wall?

Yowza, Kathy! I just posted and then noticed so had you! What a great find - Clapton guitar bluegrass-style! Oh man, I'm glad for you! Great Sunday morning music!!! After Midnite is playing right now on my radio! You made a great point - not a direct quote, but basically I heard you say that we CAN control OUR own minds to sort our memories as WE choose. I choose to keep the pleasant ones in the front of my mind, whether regarding my mom or my time in twi or whichever. So, how long do ya reckon Ted's gonna sleep in today, anyways? I have an Elvis story I might share later, after he gives his. Nothing so wonderful, just my recollections and my mom's story through my eyes 25 and more years later. I believe there will be music, lots of music in heaven!!! (along with Hershey's chocolate lol) okay, I'll get back to work for a while. But I shall return!

When we first came home with bowtwi jr. from the hospital, I introduced him to the stereo before I showed him his bedroom. I remember telling him that music lived in our house, and I trusted he would enjoy it as we did. Then I turned it on. I read that you did a similar thing, Kathy! Worked well for us, too. He was a few months old by the time I started attending twig faithfully, and it was a few years before I started buying any way prod. music. Our twig coordinators didn't dictate how to raise our kids, they loved us where we were at in our walks with God. twi didn't influence me or my family in that regard really, now that I sit and think on it... As I said earlier, I went to a weeklong bluegrass festival every year about the same time as the rock, and really enjoyed both. just thought I might directly answer the theme of this most wonderful thread...

I had the luxury of growing up with a mom that truly enjoyed music. I never did appreciate that gift enough while she was still alive. I have such fond memories of what her 5th husband called "ditty-boppin'' in the kitchen in the mornings. Drove him nuts, but we had a ball!!! Mom had 4 kids and worked hard all her short life. We were rowdy kids, and she was tough. She was 4'7" and we just knew better than to cross her. If we awakened in the morning with a need for the rest room, we knew just which stairs to totally skip on the way down - nobody wanted to risk waking HER. So many mornings we laid in our beds quiet as mice, trying to will that radio in the kitchen to go on. That was our cue that she was up and we were allowed to breathe normally and even walk down the creaky stairs. Once Mom was up, the radio cranked country music and we could dance and sing and life was so very good. We went to the state fair every year and spent most of our time between the beer tent and the where the bands played. I can still picture her dancing - she was so graceful and beautiful. She was obsessed with Elvis, and once he died, so did she. (Literally within 2 weeks.) I almost religiously listen to the weekly Elvis only radio show on Sunday mornings - it's such good stuff (IMO). I enjoy all music except for rap, and was really surprised when bowtwi jr. started to listen to that. He had been anti-rap until his last year in high school. He does enjoy a variety of music as well, but when I go to his house, he's usually got that stuff playing. Funny, but it doesn't offend me at all to hear it played there, just can't stand it on my own turf... I do enjoy seeing him and/or his girl dance to it. Lately, they have been out dancing at a Latin club and having a blast (his girl is from Brazil). When in twi, I used to go every year to the Great Northern Bluegrass Festival, and a week or two later, the ROA. What a culture change!!! While a wow, I only listened to way productions, but aside from that year and my 2 days in res, I have always listened to a variety of music and really enjoy it. I saw Neil Diamond, then Elton John & Billy Joel and then Paul McCartney in concert this year and man, it's like being young all over again! I will definitely be there if any of them come to my area again. I was sorry to miss Tom Petty and now Springsteen is playing here tonight, but I'm not going (I'm buying a house, so am watching the spending more carefully - will see them next time... 'course I still may win tickets...) I love old time music - early 1900's and before, like Ron. I can hardly wait for Ted to get up and posting some more too - love the stories!!! I tried to find the words to that song Jelly Roll Blues - no luck - anyone have them?

"What's the problem, Eve?" "I know that you created me and provided this beautiful garden and all of these wonderful animals, as well as that hilarious comedic snake, but I'm just not happy." "And why is that Eve?" "Lord, I am lonely, and I'm sick to death of apples." "Well, Eve, in that case, I have a solution. I shall create a man for you." "Man? What is that Lord?" "A flawed creature, with many bad traits. He'll lie, cheat and be vain,all in all, he'll give you a hard time. But he'll be bigger, faster and will like to hunt and kill things. He will look silly when he is aroused, but since you've been complaining, I'll create him in such a way that he will satisfy your physical needs. He will be witless and will revel in childish things like fighting and kicking a ball about. He won't be too smart, so he will also need your advice to think properly." "Sounds great," says Eve, with ironically raised eyebrows, "but what's the catch Lord?" "Well.....you can have him on one condition." "And what's that Lord?" "As I said, he'll be proud, arrogant and self-admiring.....so you'll have to let him believe that I made him first. And it will have to be our little secret. You know, woman to woman."

You are so going to pay for that one!!!

Oh Suz! I was just visiting with firebee over the phone and I happened along this post you wrote. I read/sang them to him until I simply could not for the laughter! I literally had tears running out of both my eyes. We giggled like kids. Talkin' bout my medication - I'm still laughin! Bald thing! My face is stuck in a smiling position! (course, firebee has THAT effect on a girl) You're such a delight!

Subject: HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHO TO MARRY? You got to find somebody who likes the same stuff. Like, if you like sports, she should like it that you like sports, and she should keep the chips and dip coming. * Alan, age 10 No person really decides before they grow up who they're going to marry. God decides it all way before, and you get to find out later who you're stuck with. * Kirsten, age 10 ___ WHAT IS THE RIGHT AGE TO GET MARRIED? Twenty-three is the best age because you know the person FOREVER by then. * Camille, age 10 No age is good to get married at. You got to be a fool to get married. * Freddie, age 6 (Very wise for his age) _____ HOW CAN A STRANGER TELL IF TWO PEOPLE ARE MARRIED? You might have to guess, based on whether they seem to be yelling at the same kids. *Derrick, age 8 _____ WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR MOM AND DAD HAVE IN COMMON? Both don't want any more kids. * Lori, age 8 _____ WHAT DO MOST PEOPLE DO ON A DATE? Dates are for having fun, and people should use them to get to know each other. Even boys have something to say if you listen long enough. * Lynnette, age 8 (Isn't she a treasure) On the first date, they just tell each other lies, and that usually gets them interested enough to go for a second date. *Martin, age 10 _____ WHAT WOULD YOU DO ON A FIRST DATE THAT WAS TURNING SOUR? I'd run home and play dead. The next day I would call all the newspapers and make sure they wrote about me in all the dead columns. * Craig, age 9 _____ WHEN IS IT OKAY TO KISS SOMEONE? When they're rich. * Pam, age 7 The law says you have to be eighteen, so I wouldn't want to mess with that. *Curt, age 7 The rule goes like this: If you kiss someone, then you should marry them and have kids with them. It's the right thing to do. * Howard, age 8 _____ IS IT BETTER TO BE SINGLE OR MARRIED? I don't know which is better, but I'll tell you one thing. I'm never going to have sex with my wife. I don't want to be all grossed out. * Theodore, age 8 It's better for girls to be single but not for boys. Boys need someone to clean up after them. * Anita, age 9 (Bless you child) ____ HOW WOULD THE WORLD BE DIFFERENT IF PEOPLE DIDN'T GET MARRIED? There sure would be a lot of kids to explain, wouldn't there? * Kelvin, age 8 _____ "And the #1 Favorite is........" HOW WOULD YOU MAKE A MARRIAGE WORK? Tell your wife that she looks pretty even if she looks like a truck. *Ricky, age 10

Thanks, Martha! It took me about six tries typing / joingreasespotcafe before it let me in, but I got there! It was a blast - such a rapidly moving room and so many options to play with! I've been in there 3 times this morning and was alone - now I see the beseen room is open, so much easier to get to! Either way, I love the Greasespotcafe. I too, would be happy to pay for the beseen service if only...

I too, have really enjoyed and benefitted from the chatroom. It's not gone an hour and I miss it already. Now, I can't see how to get there. I have a yahoo account, I get to where there are all kinds of chatrooms, but nowhere that I see how to get to put in a name of one I want to join. Would someone who knows kindly and s-l-o-w-l-y type the steps to get from the chat icon to the greasespotcafe chat room that Garth built (or whatever you did, I just liked the sound of that in my head). I'd sure appreciate it!

We were at the Indiana campus long enough for a head lice check, but not long enough for a Corps night - I think we slept there two nights, might have just been one. Thankfully, the details are fading... I like that they are fading. It's been 8 years this month. Better Off Without The Way International

The loss of the all that twi had meant to us is very much a real death. There are stages to grieving death, it has been documented that one MUST go through them all to completely heal. When I was first M&A'd over false accusations, I went thru the denial stage. Surely there had been a mistake made and if only _____ (name your own whoever in a high leadership position) would hear of this, it will be taken care of cause IT IS SO OFF THE WORD TO DO THAT TO EACH OTHER. SO I called HQ and told them I was on my way over to see lcm, that surely HE was spiritually sharp enough to see thru this- (give me a break, this was 8 years ago this month - I was not onto him til I came to Waydale). They told me not to, that there were armed guards with my picture and my then 13 year old son's picture on the lookout for us! We were NOT welcome at the Way. Ha ha ha I have endured some big losses in my life very recently, and I remembered that somewhere I had learned of 5 stages of grief. I looked on google and found the following - maybe there's something in there that might help you - from the experts.

Happily Married Typical macho man married typical good-looking lady and after the wedding, laid down the following rules: "I'll be home when I want, if I want and at what time I want -- and I don't expect any hassle from you. I expect a great dinner to be on the table unless I tell you. I'll go hunting, fishing, boozing, and card-playing when I want with my old buddies and don't you give me a hard time about it. Those are my rules. Any comments?" His new bride said, "No, that's fine with me. Just understand that there'll be sex here at seven o'clock every night -- whether you're here or not." ______________________________________________ Till death do us part ... Husband and wife had a bitter quarrel on the day of their 40th wedding anniversary. The husband yells, "When you die, I'm getting you a headstone that reads, 'Here Lies My Wife - Cold As Ever'." "Yeah" she replies, "When you die, I'm getting you a headstone that reads, "Here Lies My Husband -Stiff At Last.'" ______________________________________________ Joined at the tooth ... A woman and her husband interrupted their vacation to go to the dentist. "I want a tooth pulled, and I don't want any pain killers because I'm in a big hurry," the woman said. "Just extract the tooth as quickly as possible, and we'll be on our way." The dentist was quite impressed. "You're certainly a courageous woman," he said. "Which tooth is it?" The woman turned to her husband and said, "Show him your tooth, dear." ______________________________________________ Revenge with numbers ... A man has six children and is very proud of his achievement. He is so proud of himself that he starts calling his wife "Mother of Six" in spite of her objections. One night they go to a party. The man decides that it's time to go home, and wants to find out if his wife is ready to leave as well. He shouts at the top of his voice, "Shall we go home my little mother of six?" His wife, irritated by her husband's lack of discretion shouts back, "Anytime you're ready, father of four!" ______________________________________________ Second opinion ... A doctor and his wife are having a fight at breakfast table. He getsup in a rage and says, "And you are not good in bed either" and storms out of the house. A couple of hours later he decides to make amends and in between patient appointments he calls her. After many rings, she answers the phone. Irritated for having to wait, the husband says, "So why'd it take you so long to answer the phone?" She says, "I was in bed." "What are you doing in bed this late in the day?" he demands. She responds sweetly, "Getting a second opinion."

Better Off Without The way International pronounced "bowtie" the second letter w is silent in prayerful anticipation of the eventual silence of the way

I was thinking that this is going to be up to bowtwi jr. to figure out! Now I'm sure we'll have it by tomorrow (he's at work right now). Thanks a million! And stay tuned!

Thanks for answering! I could do with just one line of the song - it would communicate the gist - it's a song on a site similar to Napster. I'll talk it over with bowtwi jr. and see if we can do it between the two of us. I hope it's worth the buildup! (hmmm, "just post a link to it.")

I would love to post a verse of a song. Anyone able to explain the basics of how to do that?

I have sent you an email. Welcome to the cafe!

They were WOWs in KY in 93-94. Are they still in?

removed by bowtwi and replaced as a new topic - sorry about that.

I know how crazy it sounds to myself now to think that I wanted to go back too, but it wasn't me and I'm quite sure it wasn't you, either! I understand easily why you wrote those letters and did all they prescribed - you did your best, I'm sure! As they moved those hoops, they knew what they were doing - it was all deliberate actions - they meant to mess with us - maybe only because they could! Surely NOT by revelation from God the father of Jesus christ! Eagledarlin, it's so sad, but you did make it - you're here to tell your story! And I'm so glad you did! Just like I got tremendous healing from telling my story, I pray that you get what you need for your heart to stay sweet and keep loving God. I know it took me a few years to post my story - it can be tough, but get ready for some sweet and peaceful sleep - I believe it's on its way to you. You've been alone in that peculiar way for far too long, and they did you far worse than they did me - you lost your chance to say see ya later with your best friend and you lost your fiance, both at their hands. My heart goes out to you - please post again! I'm thinking you probably didn't get to attend your friend's funeral or memorial service, as they had in the day - well, that's just one more thing I'm mad about. To quote grasshopper as I recall the phrase - Bastards! This is war! The way to beat them, I believe, is to live well. Feel free to email me, if you ever feel like you need to "chat" with somebody who's been near to where you were. Or if you need anything. And ya know what I mean when I say anything? I mean anything! If I can, I'll help. If I can't, I probably know who can. Thanks for sharing your story. I, for one, appreciate it. (((((Eagle)))))

Please email me at bowtwi@aol.com Thanks!

As an atheist walked through the forest, he smiled at the beauty that was all around him and said, "What natural wonders the powers of evolution have created." Just then he heard a rustling near the river. He went to investigate and a 7-foot-tall grizzly bear was tearing down the path towards him him. The man took off like a shot, and when he got up the courage to look back, he saw the bear was catching up fast. He tried with all his strength to pick up the pace, but he tripped and crashed to the ground. As he tried to get up, the bear jumped on his chest and picked up one paw to whack him. The atheist screamed, "Oh my God!!!" Time stopped! The bear froze. The forest was silent. Even the river stopped moving. As a bright light shone upon the man, a voice boomed from the heavens, "You deny my existence for all of these years, teach others I don't exist, and even credit creation to a cosmic accident. Do you expect me to help you out of this predicament? Am I to count you as a believer?" The atheist looked directly into the light, "It would be hypocritical of me to suddenly ask you to treat me as a Christian now, but perhaps could you make the bear a Christian?" "Very well," the voice said. The light went out, the river ran again, and the sounds of the forest resumed. And then the bear dropped its right paw, brought both paws together, bowed its head and spoke: "Lord, for this food which I am about to receive, I am truly thankful."

Happy birthday - I hope you get the royal treatment you deserve all day long!! If I knew how, I would send you red roses from my bush. They are so beautiful and so very aromatic - I have one about 3 feet from me right now and I can smell it from here! Mmmm, mmm mmmm! Good thing Sudo's around - that was a job that needed to be done! A hug for every year old you are! bowtwi

Funny, I just realized that Grizzy (and who knows who else) probably knows more than I do about what our supposed crimes were! I was told that there were 25 federal counts over a 5 state area of some kind of "homo rape" against my son. I was told almost nothing by the corps coordinator. I was so stunned to even hear him talking that way that I'm sure I don't remember all of what he said. I had just been invited to eat breakfast at the head table! They sat and broke bread with me, putting on loving faces and then WHAMMO! When I got called to the president's parlor, I was treated like I was WORSE THAN JUDAS! It wasn't until I spoke with the trunk coordinator on the phone that I remember hearing anything about the accusations. He said that a child had drawn some picture of him and my son in some kind of homo rape scene and that was their evidence. I wasn't allowed to know WHO the accuser was, or WHAT specifically we were accused of altho we were living in America at the time. We were definitely guilty with no opportunity to face the accuser or even prove ourselves innocent. Never had anyone ever spoken to me prior to that about any alleged homo activity out of either my son or me. It always seemed to me that if they believed those accusations themselves, and if they believed that I was Corps material, as they convinced me that they did, then the Godly, the loving thing to do would have been to help us with our supposed problem. Instead, the very first thing I heard of this at all was "go away - we're NOT going to help YOU!" Took me years to really digest all that! On the second half of our wow year, the powers that were sent 3 adults and 3 children from our team "home." My personal opinion was that we were just really hitting our stride and about to really establish some strong fellowships that would stand after our year ended. The remaining wows from the other family moved into the house my son and I were living in. The limb coordinator told me that this one lady (the one with the 2 young kids) might still be sent off the field, but that "we" were giving her the benefit of the doubt. He blew me away with that statement. The 2 ladies from my family that they sent home were actually living the wow program to the best of their abilities. I know - I was their family coordinator. This lady with the 2 kids told me that she hadn't been raising her kids by herself - that her parents did everything for her since her divorce and she really didn't have to do much for herself "back home." She told me she went wow because her brother thought it was what she needed. She also confided several things to me about what a rotten sister she had been to her brother as they grew up, but that he was so good he never saw it that way. She said things like she wanted to be able to be more like me and our team coordinator, but she just really couldn't do all of the wow commitment every day! She made it clear to me that she was just getting through each day til the end when she would return to her parents' home... I might be wrong on this next exact detail, but as my memory goes, it seems to me that when school let out, she somehow convinced us that she couldn't afford to pay a real babysitter anymore on her fast food wages, so my 13 year old son would have to babysit for her kids. He did it, but wasn't thrilled about it. He was not the very nicest babysitter, but a rapist, NO WAY! I don't even recall how long he babysat for her (and I'm not going to ask him). When I came to the high school from the campus after being told to "go away," I asked him to tell me about the sex he had been having. He was a 13 year old boy - a NORMAL 13 year old boy. I won't go into our entire discussion here, but the closet thing to anything that could possibly have occurred on the wowfield was that one day he peeked in on the 3 year old girl when she was napping and saw her lying there with no panties on. THAT'S IT. Nobody touched anyone. He pulled her covers up over her. Nothing to do with a boy there! What this lady might have said to her brother and who he then might have said what to is still beyond my imagination. I just remember her telling me stories about how horribly she treated her brother when they were kids, even doing things like after he would do his chores, she would sneak behind him and mess things up so when their parents checked on his work, they thought he was lying to them and even sent him for psychiatric help. She told me she still thought that was funny. If she could do that to her own flesh and blood, there was no limit to what she would do to me, who she considered a "goody goody" that made her look bad by comparison. I definitely was her enemy by the time we got to the ROA. I just know that I went from a welcomed home WOW who was convinced by twi leadership that my son and I belonged in THAT corps to the worst scum that ever tried to slither into the outfit in less than 2 weeks! When her brother attacked me at the ROA, I was beyond stunned. I was on my way to meeting with a cabinet member, to discuss whether or not I spent the next three years training to be WayCorps or not, and so it was particularly bad timing. Also at the ROA, 2 pair of my son's Levis shorts and my camera with all the photos from the trip disappeared out of our tent. That she had borrowed those red and black shorts from my son before, as they wore the same size made me suspect I knew what happened to our stuff. She, like lcm and all the rest will answer someday for all they have done. If I am wrong, I apologize, but I have to say if it waddles like a duck and quacks, I have to call it a duck! I especially loved that comment from Steve describing lcm. "He doesn't think, he only thinks that he thinks. He doesn't have a head, his neck's just blowing bubbles." I think I'll take you up on that cup of coffee, AC, I could use it right about now. Please pass the butter pecan-flavored cream Thanks to you all for your kind support. Anything I can do to help any of you?