Story Time

Once upon a time, there was a little boy, his name was Ben. On his first birthday, his parents got him a soft cuddly brown teddy bear. The little baby boy carried his teddy bear with him every where he went. At night the teddy bear always got to sleep next to the baby boy in his crib.
Ben grew up and got his own bedroom and a big bed to sleep in. The teddy bear got to sleep next to him in bed every night. He was his favorite toy. Ben took his teddy bear everywhere he went. The teddy bear went with the boy to the zoo, all the parks in the area, and even to school.
Ben became a teenager and he got more and more interested in video games, and going out with his friends. He stopped taking his teddy bear with him, which made the bear a little bit sad. Still, he would put his teddy bear next to him in bed every night.
Then Ben started going camping with his friends. He would spend a few nights at a time at camp. The teddy bear missed his friend a lot on those days. When Ben was back from camping he would still remember his favorite toy and bring it to bed with him.
Ben graduated from high school and had to go to a university in the big city. The boy was now a young man. He would come back home a couple of times every year for just a few days. Mom took all of Ben's toys and put them in a big box in the attic. But, the teddy bear was always special so Mom decided to put him on one of the empty shelves so that when Ben was back home to visit he could see his favorite bear. Ben's visits were too short and he spent most of his time visiting with his old friends, neighbors, and family. He would go to bed late at night, and often forgot to put the bear in bed anymore. The bear was so sad and missed the nice old days when he got to sleep every night next to Ben in his bed.
Ben, now a young man, graduated from the university and got a job in the big city. He had his own place there and would only come to visit for a few hours on the weekends. Some weekends the teddy bear would not even get to see his friend. The teddy bear was so lonely. Many nights, he would sit alone crying in the dark, and dreaming of the days when he went everywhere with his friend and slept every night next to him. He always hoped that his friend would come to take him back to the big city, but it never happened.
Ben met a very nice woman who worked with him and they both liked each other. They decided to get married, and after a year they had a little baby boy of their own. They loved their baby a lot and often brought him over to his grandparents' house. The baby boy was just as cute as his father had been when he was a baby.
One day Ben remembered his favorite teddy bear and thought that his own little baby would love to have it. He ran to his old room, went straight to the shelf and grabbed his old friend the teddy bear. The bear was thrilled that his old friend had come to visit him, but could not imagine the nice surprise that awaited him. When Ben gave his old bear to his baby boy to play with, the baby was so happy he wouldn't leave it alone for the rest of the day. At the end of the day, Ben and his family said goodbye to his parents and went to their own cozy home. This time the teddy bear came with them. That night, and every night after that, the teddy bear got to sleep next to the baby boy in his crib. Just like his father, the baby boy would take the teddy bear with him every where he went. The teddy bear was so happy. Now he had a new family that loved him. His old friend and his new family loved him just as much as they possibly could.

In 1883, a creative engineer named John Roebling was inspired by an idea to build a spectacular bridge connecting New York with the Long Island. However bridge building experts throughout the world thought that this was an impossible feat and told Roebling to forget the idea. It just could not be done. It was not practical. It had never been done before.
Roebling could not ignore the vision he had in his mind of this bridge. He thought about it all the time and he knew deep in his heart that it could be done. He just had to share the dream with someone else. After much discussion and persuasion he managed to convince his son Washington, an up and coming engineer, that the bridge in fact could be built.
Working together for the first time, the father and son developed concepts of how it could be accomplished and how the obstacles could be overcome. With great excitement and inspiration, and the headiness of a wild challenge before them, they hired their crew and began to build their dream bridge.
The project started well, but when it was only a few months underway a tragic accident on the site took the life of John Roebling. Washington was injured and left with a certain amount of brain damage, which resulted in him not being able to walk or talk or even move.

"We told them so."
"Crazy men and their crazy dreams."
"It`s foolish to chase wild visions."
Everyone had a negative comment to make and felt that the project should be scrapped since the Roeblings were the only ones who knew how the bridge could be built. In spite of his handicap Washington was never discouraged and still had a burning desire to complete the bridge and his mind was still as sharp as ever.
He tried to inspire and pass on his enthusiasm to some of his friends, but they were too daunted by the task. As he lay on his bed in his hospital room, with the sunlight streaming through the windows, a gentle breeze blew the flimsy white curtains apart and he was able to see the sky and the tops of the trees outside for just a moment.
It seemed that there was a message for him not to give up. Suddenly an idea hit him. All he could do was move one finger and he decided to make the best use of it. By moving this, he slowly developed a code of communication with his wife.
He touched his wife's arm with that finger, indicating to her that he wanted her to call the engineers again. Then he used the same method of tapping her arm to tell the engineers what to do. It seemed foolish but the project was under way again.
For 13 years Washington tapped out his instructions with his finger on his wife's arm, until the bridge was finally completed. Today the spectacular Brooklyn Bridge stands in all its glory as a tribute to the triumph of one man's indomitable spirit and his determination not to be defeated by circumstances. It is also a tribute to the engineers and their team work, and to their faith in a man who was considered mad by half the world. It stands too as a tangible monument to the love and devotion of his wife who for 13 long years patiently decoded the messages of her husband and told the engineers what to do.
Perhaps this is one of the best examples of a never-say-die attitude that overcomes a terrible physical handicap and achieves an impossible goal.
Often when we face obstacles in our day-to-day life, our hurdles seem very small in comparison to what many others have to face. The Brooklyn Bridge shows us that dreams that seem impossible can be realised with determination and persistence, no matter what the odds are.
Even the most distant dream can be realized with determination and persistence

Once upon a time, a cheerful ladybug was in the park hopping from one flower to another and enjoying the nice sunny day. The ladybug was a very curious, and liked to check out anything new.
The ladybug flew across the road to look at the row of homes across from the park. Each home had a little yard with plenty of flowers. Her favorite flowers were the red roses and so she went to the yard that had the most. "Mmmmmm" she went as she started munching. "Such beautiful and delicious roses" she thought.
While she was enjoying herself and hopping from on red rose to another, she noticed the front door opening and a man leaving the house. He left the door cracked open as he gathered his things, so the ladybug flew in. On her way in she almost bumped into a woman who was heading out. The woman walked out the door and slammed it shut. Oops, the ladybug was stuck inside!
The ladybug didn't care at first. She wanted to look around and explore. She flew into the bedroom, it was tidy and nice. She then flew to the bathroom and found it very boring so she left right away. Then she flew into the kitchen where she nibbled on some crumbs she found on the table. She also licked a spot of maple syrup she found on the table.
Now that the ladybug had seen everything she was ready to leave. But how could she when all the doors and windows were closed. So the ladybug decided to wait until the people came home so that she could fly out the crack again as they came in.
She waited, and waited until she got tired of waiting and got hungry too. She decided to fly back to the kitchen to take another lick of the maple syrup on the table. "Yum" she thought as she slurped up some maple syrup, "Mmmm". But just then the man and woman came home and shut the door behind them. The ladybug had missed her chance.
She would have to try again the next day, she though as she hid under the lampshade in the living room, right next to the door. The man and woman went to bed and the ladybug fell asleep under the lampshade. She was so tired and it had been a long day. She was sleeping very deeply, having lovely ladybug dreams, when she heard the door opening and closing. "What happened?" she thought, “How could I have missed them again?" It seems she was so tired that she didn't even hear them wake up, get dressed, and head out to work.
"Why do they have to leave for work so early?" thought the ladybug. "Now I'll probably never make it out" then she flew off to the kitchen to eat some more of the left over crumbs that she found. She found some muffin crumbs that tasted very good and was lucky enough to find a small drop of orange juice that she licked up happily. "That was a really great breakfast" she said to herself, "but now I need to concentrate on finding out how to get out of this place and get back home. My family must be worried about me by now."
She looked around everywhere. She was hoping there was a cracked window or a hole in the wall, but she couldn't find any. She tried to squeeze under the door, but there just wasn't enough room. She just had to wait….again!
This time she would not go to the kitchen, she would not rest or sleep either. She would just wait…and she did, for a long, long time. But the man and his wife did not go back home right away after work. Instead they decided to go out for dinner, and they stayed out late. The ladybug waited till it was very dark and she was so tired. She gave up on them coming back and fell asleep.
At about midnight the couple came back home. The ladybug woke up on the door slamming shut and saw the man and the woman walking in. Then she waited until they went to bed and fell asleep.
The ladybug decided not to wait until the morning to do something. She did not want to fall asleep again and miss them leaving in the morning. She had thought of hiding in the woman's purse, but the purse was closed shut and she was unable to get in.
Then she thought of the man's wallet, but she feared that when he put his wallet in his pants he might sit on her and squish her. She needed someplace to hide where she wouldn't be seen, but she also needed it to be something that the man or woman would take with them when they left the house.
Then she noticed the man's hat. "That would be a perfect place," she thought. "I can hide inside the hat, all the way inside. Hopefully he won't shove his hat on really hard and squish me." Then she crawled to the topmost part of the hat and waited till the morning.
In the morning the couple got dressed and went to work, but the man left his hat! The man and woman walked out but the hat stayed…with the ladybug inside! Poor ladybug.The man had forgotten his hat and when he noticed that he did he returned to the house to get it. The ladybug was still inside it although she was just about to get out. The man took the hat and gently placed it on his head. The ladybug sighed with relief. Then she realized something. How was she going to get out from under the hat unless the man took it off? The ladybug sure wasn't ready to wait any longer. She had already waited for two days to go back to her family and she wanted to go to them now. So, the ladybug jumped on the man's bald head and started tickling him on his scalp. The man felt his head starting to tickle and took his hat off to itch it. At that very moment the ladybug was ready and she flew out to freedom. "Free at last" she cried! And then she flew back home to her very worried family.